LB 

1059 
W5- 



^^ k 







aass__^__i_Z/l20 



Book 



GopjTight]^^. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



THE SOGIALIZED 
REGITATION 



BY 

WILLIAM T. WHITNEY, Pd.D., Ph.D. 

Superintendent of Schools 
PORT CHESTER. NEW YORK 




NEW YORK 

THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY 

1915 



< 



Copyright, 1915 
By 

thp: a. s. barnes co. 




NOV 16 1915 

©CI.A414607 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Sumniary of Paragraphs v 

List of Illustrations vii 

Introduetion ix 

Explanatory diart of the Socialized Recitation. ... 1 

I. Socializiug the Reeitation 5 

II. General Plan 18 

III. Actual Lessons as Illustrations 45 



SUMMARY OF PARAGRAPHS 



I. SOCTALIZING THE RECITATION. 

PAGE 

1. Forinal Naturę of the Recitation 5 

2. Proniinence Given the Recitation 5 

3. Recitation from a Disciplinary Standpoint 6 

4. Wasted Time in the Recitation 7 

5. Criticisms of the Recitation 7 

6. Objects of the Recitation 7 

7. Objects Enumerated 8 

8. Qualifications of the Teacher 8 

9. Added Responsibility 9 

10. Illustrations of School Responsibility 9 

n. Society rixes the Responsibility 10 

12. The Recitation — the Critical Period of the School 

Day 11 

13. The Recitation — a Period for Giving Experiences. 12 

14. The Recitation — ^a Period of Pupil Activity and 

Responsibility 12 

V 



SUMMARY OF PARAGRAPHS 



PAGE 

15. Naturę and Character of Pupil Activity 13 

16. The Recitation — an Aetiro Period of Pupil Re- 

sponsibility 14 

17. The Recitation — a Planned Period of Pupil Activity 14 

18. The Recitation — a Period of Morał Training 15 

19. Socializing the Recitation 16 

20. A Working Morality 17 

II. GENERAL PLAN. 

1. Socializing the History Period 18 

2. Socializing the Arithmetic Period 23 

3. Socializing the Orał Reading Period 31 

IIL ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 



History Lesson — Grade VII 47 

History Lesson — Grade A^ 63 

Review Language Lesson — First Grade 70 

Spelling Lesson — Grade IV 75 

Spelling Lesson — Second and Third Grades 84 

Reading Lesson — First Grade 89 

Reading Lesson — Grade IV 91 

Geography Lesson — Grade IV 94 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

iocialized Number Games 27 

Lddition Drills 29 

iocialized Eeading Lesson 32 

Itoiy Hour Socialized 40 

listory Lesson Socialized 46 

listory Lesson Illustrated 66 

^uotation Work Socialized 69 

*honetic Spelling Gamę 83 



INTRODUCTION 



The Socialized Recitation is the outcome of prac- 
tical experiments to create an atmosphere of activity 
and responsibility for the child in the classroom. 
The spirit of demoeracy is the spirit of individual 
efficiency and self-control. The schoolroom of the 
past has emphasized discipline and control from the 
standpoint of the teacher. The Socialized Recitation 
emphas-izes self-control and activity throngh experi- 
ences created in the classroom for the purpose of 
training the child by means of his cooperation with 
others engaged in some essential and profitable 
work. 

The old form of recitation emphasizes the snbject- 
matter nsnally to the exclusion of the child. The 
Socialized Recitation emphasizes the pupil and uses 
the subject-matter as a means for the expression 
of his own ideas and to develop his power. The 
child becomes the important issue under the Social- 
ized Recitation while under the old form of recita- 
tion the subject-matter and course of study as- 
sume the prominent position. The one uses the facts 
of books to create experiences for mental, morał and 
social training; the other uses facts for Information 
almost entirely. Should development and training 



INTRODUCTION 



resiilt, the old method does not object, but does not 
concern itself. 

The Socialized Recitation Makes the Schoolroom 
Real, Life-Like and Natural. — The snbjeet-matter of 
a given lesson is so planned by the teacher that it 
becomes materiał to be used by the child in creating 
experiences, and in giving and receiving impres- 
sions. Thns to a very large degree drill is elimi- 
nated, but the facts are nevertheless fixed, becanse of 
the concrete situations in which the child nses them. 
The Socialized Recitation avoids the artificial con- 
ditions of the old classroom and recitation. Tlie 
teacher is no longer the standard and arbiter of all 
things. The children become members of a working 
community which adopts the principles of character 
and of good citizenship as the standard of living and 
working. The teacher becomes a better planner and 
guide, but is less active in the classroom during 
recitations. The teacher 's work must be done before 
school opens, and once in the classroom, she becomes 
only a member of the class with morę or less author- 
ity as reąuired. 

The Socialized Recitation does not neglect any of 
the formal or fundamenta! principles of good teach- 
ing. It employs them to far better advantage and 
does away with the acadcmhed recitation eondueted 
by. the teacher to the exclusion of the pupil and his 
participation in the work. 

William T. Whitney. 
Port Chester. 



EXPLANATORY CHART 

OF THE 

SOCIALIZED RECITATION 



Purpose of the Socialized Recitation. — To do away 

with passiyity in the (.'lassroom ; to proyide oppor- 
tunity for the natural developnient of initiative, of 
activity resultiiig in originalitj/, of the imaginative 
powers, and of the realization and assumption of 
responsibility ; to give opportunity for the ehild to do 
and to he, rather than merely to know. 

Change Necessitated. — The teaeher's work be- 
eomes the background rather than the working cen- 
ter of the class period. iShe plans ways of develop- 
ing* the pnpils' initiative and vitalizing their ex- 
perience. She herself must be the Instigator, bnt 
not the entire power, in arranging and enconraging 
discnssions and continning effort. Jnst as the sue- 
cessfnl play organizer succeeds best when she reaches 
the stage where the ehildren natnrally lead. so the 
teacher of the day school mnst withdraw from domi- 
nating the gamę, and mnst arrange methods of work 
so that pnpils become personalities showing reaction, 
not merę reeeptaeles. 

1 



TtlE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 



Suggested Extent of the Socialized Recitation 
when First Inaugurated. — Keorganize the metliod of 
recitation in one subjeet only. After a reasonable 
success and understanding of the method is. attained, 
reorganize a seeond subjeet. This gradual progres- 
sion nntil all snbjeets are socialized will guard 
against any disorganization of the entire da3^'s pro- 
gram. 



Suggested Subjeet for Initial Effort. — Reading 
history or geography. 



&> 



Main Points to Be Noted. — (1) Conyersations and 
discussions are to be transferred to the class circle, 
of which the teacher sitting with the class is but a 
unit, jnst as each child is a unit. Discussions, ques- 
tions, criticisms are to be" l)etween pupils— with 
the teacher only occasionally drawn in, rather than 
(as heretofore) always between teacher and sonie 
pupil. The teacher should be a guide and not do the 
reciting for the class. (2) Encourage both freedom 
and desire to offer additional facts or to make iii- 
quiry concerning points discussed. (8) Corrections 
to be noticed and discussed by pupils. (4) The 
teacher to bring out any errors not corrected and 
taking part only when necessary. 

Mistakes to Avoid. — (1) Pupil-teaching, where one 
pupil takes entire charge of a class period. This 
misinterpretation of the method allows for scarcely 
morę freedom than when the teacher 's personality 
dominates the class. The method does not become 
changed; there is merely a change of personalities. 



EKPLA XA TORY CHA R T. 



(2) Timicl pupils not volunteering. (3) A briglit 
group controlling' tlie entire diseussion. (4) Mis- 
taken interpretation of the new freedom permitting 
confusion in room. (5) Weak points of lesson 
eąually stressed with important points. (6) Parrot- 
like expressions of critieism. (7) Resentment of 
just critieism. (8) Reference work organized by 
pupils only. (9) Unity and eoherenee yiolated. 



Suggestions for Avoiding Misinterpretations. — (1) 

There słiould be developed a "give and take" atti- 
tude among class members. The bright pupil will 
"play the gamę" by calling for additional facts from 
certain rows or individuals. Those who can add to 
his recitation will stand until recognized. Parlia- 
mentary courtesy is insisted upon. Thus the oppor- 
tunity of leading is passed on by one pupil to an- 
other whom he chooses. (2) Timid pupils are to be 
noted and before another recitation their names 
ąuietly suggested to those pupils who are apt to take 
Yoluntary part in the diseussion. (3) A bright group 
should be encouraged to draw into the diseussion 
others of less initiative. Break up groups by often 
calling on whole rows. (4) Confusion in standing 
and exaggerated enthusiasm must not be counte- 
nanced. Allow no pupils to stand or ąuestion a 
speaker until he has finished speaking. (5) The 
teacher should carefuUy work out the lesson, select- 
ing the important points for suggestion to the class. 
(6) Yariety in expression should be insisted upon. 
and definite constructiye criticisms the only ones 
permitted. (7) The proper attitude of receiving just 



THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 



criticism shoiild be shown. (8) Reference work 
shoiild be mapped out and assigned by the teacher. 
(9) ''Keeping to the point" must be the teacher 's 
watchword. Guide the pupils to wateh and cheek 
the careless thinker. It is splendid training for a 
class thus to demand keen attention, and allow no 
Avandering from the point. 



I 

SOCIALIZING THE 
RECITATION 

Formal Naturę of the Recitation. — The recitation 
in the organization of the American public school 
occiipies a uniąue place. The time of the pupil is 
usually divided in the foUowing manner: Time de- 
Yoted to the study of lessons; time devoted to the 
recitation of lessons. The teacher's time is, there- 
fore, given almost entirely to recitation work. The 
result has been that the recitation has become a 
merę testing or an examination period of a morę or 
less formal character. There are exceptions, of 
course, to this statement, but it applies to a large 
majority of the classrooms in the American public 
schools. The recitation lesson has become a period 
of time devoted to hearing prepared work, testing 
the pupils, or presenting new work in a morę or less 
formal way in which the pupil has a minimum of 
interest. From the teacher's standpoint, the recita- 
tion lesson is the principal feature of the day. 

Prominence Given the Recitation. — Educational 
authorities give the recitation a very prominent place. 
Some assert that all school activities and interests 
are centered in the recitation. From the teacher's 

5 



THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION 



standpoint, it g'ives an opportunity to impart knowl- 
edge, guide effort, train pupils. arouse enthusiasm, 
proYoke tliouglit, and gives opportunity for indi- 
yidual expression ; that is. it sliould do all this, but 
let us examine the usual recitation and see what the 
actual practice is. 

Recitation from a Disciplinary Standpoint. — The 

first reąuirement is formal discipline; that is. the 
recitation is judged from the standpoint of ąuiet- 
ness and order. Pupils must sit in an orderly man- 
ner. Quietness must prevail. The ąuieter the room, 
the morę suecessful the teacher. But examine closely 
this ąuietness. It is usually a suppressed condition. 
The ąuietness is merely physical. The real child. 
the feeling and thinking child, may be in a state of 
chaos. He may be far removed from the contines of 
the classroom. His interests are centered anywhere 
but where his body is. He has learned that physical 
ąuietness answers practically every purpose. To 
think, to become responsible, to be interested, to be 
aroused, to want to put forth effort, to do something 
for others, to feel his part in the recitation, to have 
certain set tasks and duties to perform; this soeial 
consciousness is foreign to a majority of the pupils. 
They rely upon the teacher. They depend upon her. 
Is there anything to be done ? Is there any responsi- 
bility to be assumed? Is there any disorder to be 
suppressed? Are there any unfavorable conditions 
to be attended to? The teacher is the one to look 
after all such matters. The pupils feel no responsi- 
bility resting upon them. The only part the pupil 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 



plays is to repeat facts learned — to rehearse the 
lesson. Unconsciously, he is looked upon by the 
average teacher as a bit of clay to be sąueezed into 
the mold, and tumed out aocording to the pattern. 

Wasted Time in Recitation.^Little or no effort is 
madę to teach pupils Jiow to stndij. They are left, as 
a usual thing, to attack the lesson according to their 
own plan. It is too often the case that the lesson 
assigned is not clearly understood by the pupil. The 
result is that the pupil usually learns words, and the 
text-book becomes the medium between the two — 
teacher and pupil. Three-fourths of the time spent 
by a pupil below the seventh grade in trying to pre- 
pare a lesson from a text-book, is time and energy 
wasted. 

Criticisms of the Recitation. — There are many 
criticisms of the recitation, and many of them only 
too true. Briefly they characterize the recitation as 
wasted time, mental wandering. aimless or sup- 
pressed mental effort and interest, and the utter loss 
of the ethical value of the most important period of 
the day. Many teachers present and develop sub- 
jects, but the whole effect is lost upon the class. The 
recitation is merely an orał examination. 

Objects of the Recitation.: — But sińce the recita- 
tion has become a fixture in the American public 
school, we must here consider the objects or ends 
which it must conserve ; the results which it must 
secure; and the parts which teacher. pupil and sub- 



THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 



ject-matter — the three important factors — must 
play. What, then, are the objects? 

Objects Enumerated. — (1) The recitation gives an 
opportunity for the teacher to stud.y and know the 
indiyidual pupil. (2) To aid the pupil in those 
mental processes which present special difficulties to 
him as an individuaL (3) To enable the pupil to 
acąuire new experiences. (4) To train the pupil in 
expression. (5) To give the pupil an opportunity 
both to receive and impart a sociaUzincj influence. 
(6) To enable the pupil to express his own individu- 
ality and to receive a modifying influence from the 
class. (7) To correct wrong impressions. (8) To 
enlarge the pupiPs experience. (9) To build up in 
an orderly, logical way, a definite storę of Informa- 
tion. (10) To enable the pupil to overcome indi- 
vidual weaknesses. (11) To enable the pupil to form 
the habit of concentrated effort and attention. 

Qualifications of the Teacher. — It will be seen 
that the recitation must occupy a very important 
place, not only in educational theory, but in practice. 
The teacher should have clearly before her, and be 
a thorough master of these definite aims. The 
recitation, then, should be organized to accomplish 
the work. To accomplish this (1) the teacher must 
have scholarship. (2) Experience which may be 
termed socialized experience; that is, not merely a 
knowledge of books but a knowledge of life, of peo- 
ple and of human activity. (3) A definite knowledge 
of the particular problem that every schoolroom rep- 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 



resents. (4) A definite knowledge of the community, 
and the environment of the children assembled in a 
particular room each morning. (5) An interested, 
wholesome influence which extends beyond a merę 
course of stiidy, and eonsiders the ehild as an individ- 
ual to be trained in a definite way for lif e ; a training 
which neither begins nor ends in the schoolroom. If 
the recitation is to occupy this important place in 
the day's program, it must be radically changed in 
order to meet the changed and changing conditions 
of modern life. School can no longer be a thing set 
apart from life, which builds up an artificial world 
of manners, acts and thonghts peculiar to the insti- 
tution school and ending with school. 

Added Responsibility. — The school has been forced 
to take over many of those responsibilities which 
formerly the home assumed. Of all teachers. the 
parent has the best opportimity for dealing with the 
whole child; that is, the mental child, the physical 
child, and the spiritual child. Yet, the home is fail- 
ing in a large measure to meet its responsibilities and 
opportunities. Parental ineapability, unjust eco- 
nomic and industrial conditions and family insta- 
bility and inefficiency are in part the causes of this 
failure. Obvionsly the school must assume these 
added responsibilities. 

Illustrations of School Responsibility. — This may 
be well illustrated by a few examples. If the home 
neglects good manners, good social custom, and a 
sound morality, let the school teach manners and 



10 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

morals. If money interests disturb the economic 
and industrial conditioiis of the community, let the 
school teach sound economics. If extravagance and 
waste characterize many of the homes, let the school 
inculcate the virtues of thrift and industry. Let the 
school establish sayings banks and teach by this 
example, the practice of saving. If mothers are un- 
willing and unable to teach their own daughters the 
fundamentals of home-making and home-keeping, let 
the school teach dressmaking and cooking and sew- 
ing. If children are disobedient, disrespectful, care- 
less, idle, let the teacher in the school eradicate these 
weaknesses and establish the virtues necessary to 
make the child a mannerly, orderly and thoughtful 
boy or girl. If the social life and business life 
become too pressing and the physical welfare of the 
child be neglected, let the school take up hygiene 
and physical training. If parents are unwilling and 
incompetent to teach the fundamental and sacred 
truth of physical and morał protection, let the 
school teach sex hygiene. 



Society Fixes the Responsibility. — In brief, then, 
the school must become the center for all training 
and teaching which relates to the welfare of the 
complete child. All the former duties of the school 
still remain and must be done as well or better than 
before. The time, however, in which they are to 
be done remains the same. It is no longer a ques- 
tion whether the school should or can undertake all 
that is reąuired of it to-day. "Whether these things 
are demanded wisely or unwisely is not the ques- 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 11 

tion. Whether the school and the teacher are to 
become a sort of universal social healer, is not the 
ąuestion. It is evident that society has determined 
that the school shall do these things. It is evident, 
also, that the time is not far distant when the school 
day must be lengthened to six or seven hours and 
l^possibly forty-six or fifty weeks per year. This is 
to be determined by the needs of the community and 
the several groups of chilclren within the community. 

The Recitation the Critical Period of the School 
Day. — It is certain, then, that a reorganization is 
abont to take płace. Whatever may be the changed 
conditions so far as school bnildings, playgrounds, 
school eąuipment and apparatus are concemed, from 
the teaching side, the problem must be solved in the 
recitation period. The recitation must become a 
place where the child is considered from the stand- 
point of the whole child, and not merely the infor- 
mational child. To teach the scattered facts of this 
subject or that, to group these facts morę or less 
logically, to build up Information in such a way 
that it becomes a connected whole, is no longer the 
sole function of the recitation. The child must be 
considered from the standpoint of a thinking, active, 
feeling being endowed with certain capacities, cer- 
tain instincts that become useful or harmful accord- 
ing as they are properly guided. Ali of these must 
be so strengthened and guided that a social being re- 
sults. He must receive such training as to make the 
use of the tools of learning automatic ; such train- 
ing as will enable him to stand his ground with 



12 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

others. He should receive such training in manners, 
for example, as to enable him to meet all people 
upon a piane of equality so far as manners are con- 
cerned. He should receive such training in English 
as to enable him to express himself clearly, accu- 
rately, modestly, yet firm in his position and sup- 
ported by knowledge and experience. The recita- 
tion must do all this. It must take the child as it 
finds him, and in proportion to his capacity and un- 
derstanding, create for him such experience as will 
enable him to participate in and become a part of 
that experience. 

The Recitation — A Period for Giving Experiences. 

— The several subjects to be taught must, therefore, 
be considered as furnishing suitable materiał for 
giving the child first hand experiences as well as an 
opportunity to express his own personality. The 
teaching, then, of a given subject means that the 
subject is not the important thing. It means that 
the child and the situation in Avhich he is placed be- 
come the important factor. For the child is to re- 
ceive impressions and a definite form of training to 
enlarge his experience and make of him a morę cap- 
able and efficient social being at every stage of his 
progress. 

The Recitation — A Period of Pupil Activity and 
Responsibility. — The recitation can be conducted no 
longer according to the old set plan of ąuestion and 
answer. It must become the medium for receiving 
training and obtaining experiences. The class must 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 13 

be so orgauized that in the teachiiig: of every lesson, 
the pupil has a responsible part to play. He is to 
give as well as to receive. He must be led and trained 
to perform certain duties because he is a member of 
that class. He must be led to see that, as a member of 
the class, he is responsible for every act of disorder, 
for every unwholesome condition that may exist so 
far as his elass is eoncerned. The order and appear- 
ance of the room, the generał deportment and con- 
duct of the pupils, their speech and habits as mem- 
bers of the class, are all matters with which he is 
yitally eoncerned. He has set tasks (this does not 
refer to preparation of assigned lessons) and duties 
for which he alone is responsible. The room belongs 
to him. He must feel it. There are many things 
which he as a member of the class can do to make 
his room and his class better. He must be interested 
and aroused so that the initiative comes from him. 



Naturę and Character of Pupil Activity. — The chil- 
dren should be led to see that they must give their 
classmates the advantage of their thought and of 
their stucly. In turn, they should be prepared to 
answer ąuestions from the class and should be trained 
to accept criticism and correetion from their fellow 
members. In this they receive training in social 
usage. It strengthens their confidence ; affords op- 
portunity for exchange of ideas; gives training in 
orał speech and \^n:'itten language, and makes the 
pupils members of a social, cooperative body. They 
no longer feel that the sole reąuirement is to satisfy 
the teacher or some standard of which they are but 



14 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

dimly conscious. The feeling is created that they 
have something to do and that it is important, and 
that they are responsible for its siiccess or failure. 
The teacher is now not the only morał, social and in- 
tellectual mentor of the room. 

The Recitation — An Active Period of Pupil Re- 
sponsibility. — The recitation is to become an active 
period, and no longer a listening period. The child 
is to become a doer and not a passive listener. The 
class is the active part of the recitation — not the 
teacher. The teacher no longer recites, no longer 
asks ąuestions and receives answers. The teacher's 
work becomes now one of planning and of manage- 
ment. The teacher merely directs, counsels with the 
pupils, advises and leads, without dominating and 
suppressing the physical and mental life within the 
room. If there are stubborn cases of discipline, the 
pride and honor of the room must settle them. If 
there are dirty boys and girls, the self-respect and 
honor of the class must attend to that. If there are 
members of the class whose conduct, speech, actions 
and manners are detrimental to good citizenship, the 
honor and respeet of the class will remedy that. So 
the class and the recitation become one and the 
same thing. The schoolroom thus organized meets 
the many conditions imposed, and this is the only 
way, as schools are to-day organized, in which they 
can be met. 

The Recitation — A Planned Period of Pupil Ac- 
tivity. — The old order of conditions, wherein disci- 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 15 

pline was coneeived to be most perfect when all 
children were so suppressed that ąuietness reigned 
and all inoved as one, mnst pass. Order to-day is 
ąuiet actiyity wherein eacłi member of tłie class 
recognizes the rights of others and acts accordingly. 
Tliis reąuires teaching. By teaching, we do not 
mean the developing, presenting and carrying into 
effect of the formal steps of instruction at every 
period of the day, bnt rather so planning and so 
organizing the work and the room that the pnpils 
beeome seekers, searchers and workers, reąuiring 
only now and then the formal presentation of a 
lesson. "When this formal presentation is given, it 
covers what is known as a snbject-matter whole, 
that is, a large enongh topie or subject to employ 
the actiyities of the class for a considerable length 
of time. 



The Recitation — A Period of Morał Training. — 

The usual subjects of instruction in the school will, 
if rightl}^ nsed, provide opportunity in this new or- 
der of recitation for morał training. We consider mor- 
ał training by far the most important pliase of educa- 
tion in the elementary school. The materiał for the 
several subjects of the school curriculum should be 
supplemented with additional materiał from litera- 
turę, for the purpose of estabłishing right ideals and 
motives. The children themselves should be given 
opportunity to display the several virtues or habits 
of respect toward one another; to be courteous in 
speech and in action ; to be hełpfuł about the room ; 
to be industrious in all that they do : to assist one 



16 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

another; to provide for the generał welfare of the 
room and all those details that go to make a boy or 
girl helpfnl, clean and wholesome. This the recita- 
tion can do if the teacher plans the work in such a 
manner that the pnpils are given the opportunity to 
practice that which they may well do. If the teacher 
wishes to inculcate the habit of courtesy in speech, 
she must provide inniimerable opportunities for the 
pupils to address one another in the recitation. 
This is easily done without sacrificing any part of 
the content of the recitation on the instructional 
side. 



Socializing the Recitation. — If good manners or 
good morals are to become a part of the schoolroom, 
the children must receive training throughout the 
entire day. This training shonld be in the form of 
practice in doing the very thing desired. Nothing 
much will be accomplished by giving a ten minutę 
lesson in the morning upon good manners, respect, 
helpfulness, kindness and those several topics and 
subjects which are usually given a ten minutę place 
in the program in the morning and forgotten for the 
rest of the day. Such topics and others eąually im- 
portant should receive the major part of the atten- 
tion and planning so far as the morał training and 
character of the child is concerned. The subject- 
matter, then, of the curriculum if rightly used will 
become a valuable means for morał training. Noth- 
ing is lost, and the subject matter itsełf becomes 
sociałized and humanized. It is given a meaning 
far morę important than it would otherwise have 



SOCIALIZING THE RECITATION. 17 

for the child. To let the children work out together 
their reading lesson, their history or geography les- 
son, will yitalize the information obtained. It will 
be colored by that direct experience włiich means 
for the morał life, feeling and emotional tones. Let 
the room and the recitation be socialized and human- 
ized. Take the recitation out of the mechanical form 
of ąuestion and answer, of repeating what is known 
about the subject, and the room becomes lifelike. It 
all depends upon the manner in whieh the recitation 
period is used for training the child. The training 
he should receive is the training given through the 
direct activity of the child doing the right thing 
from impulses or motives that have become part of 
the child 's desire. 

A Working Morality. — IMorality does not consist 
of abstract thoughts. Good citizenship does not con- 
sist of talk about ideals. The highest morality and 
best citizenship is in doing an honest piece of work 
with a sincere motive and purpose. For the me- 
chanic, for the child, morality and citizenship mean 
doing effectiyely and efficiently, with right motives, 
the thing in hand. This may be termed a working 
morality, but it is the type of morał training most 
needed to-day. The recitation period should be de- 
voted to training the child, rather than instructing 
the child. The child will get the instruction of neces- 
sity if the materiał or content of instruction is placed 
at his disposal in such a way that he may as a worker 
use it in practicing good speech, good manners, 
thinking, doing, co-operating and building up habits 
that become right morał action. 



II 

GENERAL PLAN 

SOCIALIZING THE HISTORY PERIOD 



The socialized recitation to be of value and to ac- 
complish its purpose requires better planning on the 
part of the teacher. The burden of the teacher's 
responsibility consists of the work which she does in 
planning and organizing the subject-matter. Better 
and morę careful preparation and planning mnst be 
done by the teacher if the recitation is to be of per- 
manent value to the pupil. In the recitation period, 
the teacher will do little or nothing except to guide 
when necessary, but always keeping herself in the 
background and allowing the pupils to be the active 
workers. This likewise gives the teacher an oppor- 
tunity to notę the errors in language madę by the 
pupils ; to make her observations for criticism and 
training of the class as a whole, or the individual 
members of the class. 

The subject-matter for the lesson in history should 
be selected with care. It should consist of an im- 
portant and essential portion of the course reąuired 
for the term. It should be a subject-matter whole 
and should be planned to employ the activities of 

18 



GENERAL PLAN. 19 

the class for a period of at least two or three days. 
Once planned, the teacher should then make tłie as- 
signments. To one gronp of pupils, there should be 
assigned the map work if any map work is reąuired. 
These pupils are responsible for the preparation of 
the necessary maps placed in the proper manner 
either upon the blackboard or before the class as 
designated by the teacher. To another group of 
pupils there should be assigned one of the topics of 
the subject-matter. To another group another topie 
and so on until all topics have been assigned. This 
outline should be placed upon the blackboard. Op- 
posite the outline should be placed titles of the 
reference books Avith pages indicated so that pupils 
may readily and easily prepare their work. If eer- 
tain readings are reąuired in connection with this 
particular topie, they should be assigned to a group 
of pupils whose duty it is to bring them into the 
class. If they are not too long, they are to be read 
to the class, if too long a brief and concise report is 
to be madę. 

When the recitation begins, the responsibility for 
the work rests upon the class. The several groups 
will report to the class results of their labor and 
preparation, using the materiał which they have 
gathered, and presenting it in a definite form. The 
teacher will remain in the background. One mem- 
ber of a group selected by his own classmates will 
make the report for his group. They will add, as 
they see the necessity, such matter as is proper or 
has been omitted. A member of another group 
selected by his respective group will make the report 



20 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

for that groiip. This will be continned until all the 
subject-matter of this particular topie has been pre- 
sented to the class. At the end of the presentation 
the others may participate in a discussion to bring 
out further points of interest and value. This calls 
for good manners, courtesy, thoughtfiilness, definite- 
ness of speech, the exclnsion of details not pertinent 
to the matter in band, and gives to the pupils a train- 
ing which the old form of the recitation could never 
give. The pupils are trained not to interrupt one 
another and not to raise hands, but when one speaker 
has finished, all those who have any corrections to 
make or criticisms to offer, ąuietly stand, and the 
one who is doing the reciting now acts as chairman 
of the meeting and calls upon those standing. The 
same polite, courteous method of procedurę is fol- 
lowed as in well organized parli amentary discus- 
sions. 

At the close of the recitation, the teacher ąuietly 
designates a member of the class to make a brief 
and definite summary of the recitation. Another 
pupil is called upon to write this summary upon the 
blackboard. It is now necessary to provide for drill 
and review. Several devices may be adopted, one of 
which we indicate. Each pupil is reąuired to write 
out a certain number of ąuestions upon smali cards. 
At the beginning of the next recitation these ąues- 
tions are asked by the members of the class. This 
provides for rapid drill and necessitates an aecurate 
knowledge on the part of the ąuestioner. It reąuires 
thought in preparation and places the burden of the 
responsibility for the work and the thought upon 



GENERAL PLAN. 21 



the pupil. This method of recitation provides oppor- 
tunity for the iise of language, proper usage and 
custom, manners, and all those nice distmctions 
which good training should give. 

At the close of the snbject-matter whole, the 
teacher reąuires a brief and definite summary of all 
the snbject-matter involved. Ontside readings may 
be reąnired. This shonld be presented in the form 
of orał reports, varied now and then with a brief 
written report. The written reports, however, 
shonld be few. The orał reports and discnssions 
provide the opportnnity for a variety of training and 
shonld be constantly followed. If the work is 
properly planned by the teacher and the proper 
training goes on, the teacher seldom nses morę than 
one sentence dnring the whole recitation. At any 
given time, as the need arises, the teacher may mter- 
rnpt as a member of the class, and present her view 
or her directions, but this shonld not take morę 
than a minutę or so, and should not involve a 
lengthy recitation bv the teacher, which is the usuai 
custom in the majority of history classrooms. 

At the close of a period, the teacher may make and 
should make all corrections in language not pre- 
Yiously madę by pupils. A brief drill should be 
given at this point to guard against the repetition 
of incorrect English. We find, however, ni this 
method of the recitation that poor English disap- 
pears and fluent and correct English takes its place, 
and the greater part of the corrections are madę by 
the pupils themselves. 

The same method of procedurę yarled to m.eet the 



23 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

demands and reąuirements of tlie class in the subject- 
matter słiould be foUowed in the subject of geogra- 
phy. Every subject in the school curriculum admits 
of being socialized to the degree and extent that the 
pupils become the active, interested and responsible 
workers. Lifting the recitation out of the ordinary 
schoolroom routine means that the pupils become 
actively engaged in work that is practical and 
natural. 

The ordinary recitation means an artificial and 
unnatural way of mentally digesting information and 
subject-matter. The ąuestion and answer method as 
well as the so-called development method seldom 
touches the child's real interest. It is evident also 
that in the ordinary recitation no plan or preparation 
is madę for the child to take a conversational interest 
in the work. He is confined and restricted to the 
few thoughts that the teacher may have in mind 
which may or may not be the child 's view point and 
which may in no sense be educational so far as the 
child is concerned. No opportunity is provided in 
the ordinary recitation for the child to. receive that 
training in thought, in courtesy, in manners and 
practical morals, in language and in power of adapt- 
ability, which constitutes the valuable part of a reci- 
tation. The socialized recitation admits of all these 
elements which are imperative if the child is to be 
educated. 



SOCIALIZING THE ARITHMETIC 
PERIOD 

In both primary and morę advanced arithmetic 
work we find splendid opportunity for an introduc- 
tion of the Soeialized Recitation. In the primary 
years, we need the play instinct to ąuicken and 
brighten the drill periods during which the four 
fimdamental proeesses in number mnst be firmly 
grounded. This abstract work of the four funda- 
mental proeesses is the real problem of the primary 
school curriculum and not only admits but truły 
demands the introduction of the competitive social 
instinct. In continuing the abstract process work in 
the higher grades and also in dealing with the con- 
crete problem types of these later years, the soeial- 
ized recitation gains deep interest, develops keen at- 
tention. The competitive interest of the business 
world finds its prototype in the pupil 's measuring 
his effort with that of his associates, sińce he must 
meet their ąuestions and criticisms and prove his 
conclusions to a group rather than to a single indi- 
vidual censor ! In a smali but growing way he learns 
to hołd his own in a junior business world,— to be 
self-reliant, to listen even pleasantly to just inter- 
ruptions and objections! He grows morę original 
in the new democratic atraosphere ; he dares express 

23 



24 THE SOCIAUZED RECITATION. 

aclditional thoughts aside from an accepted demon- 
stration; he learns to guestion cven himself; to dis- 
tinguish naturally between the known and the un- 
known linę ; to distinguish definitely tlie part of 
the prohlem which is for him to solve. This training 
in power to discern the ''don't know linę" is perhaps 
one of the largest and finest results of the socialized 
work. The pupil realizes that each process he per- 
forms in working out a problem must be definitely ac- 
counted for to any class member who makes inąuiry 
during his explanation. "Hit and miss" mnltiplica- 
tions and other subterfuges of weak pupils who 
"work for the answer" thiis disappear. Honest ef- 
fort and eoneentrated thought result; the pupil 
knows that he is to be strictly watched by a hody of 
co-u'orkers each of whom has decided upon a definite 
reason for certain progressions in solving given work. 
The concrete work in this way grows into an inex- 
haustible field for training in exactness and in com- 
parative methods. 

Indefinite rariations of number deviees including 
card and board drills might be listed for those who 
wish thus to socialize the arithmetie period of the 
elementary school. As merely typical of such (but 
not inclusive), the following are outlined, as merę 
suggestions for the intelligent teaeher who will add 
to any central thought device upon device as her own 
particular class demands : 

Primary Drills: 

(a) Give each child a card containing one combi- 
nation. Have the class form a circle, each child hołd- 



GENERAL PLAN. 25 

ing his eard in view. One child begins the gamę by 
giving his answer and calling upon another child to 
do likewise. Occasionally, someone gives the order 
to pass cards, when each one passes his card to his 
left hand neighbor, and the gamę continnes as before. 
In case of an error, a child will cali attention to it, 
and have it corrected before the gamę continnes. 

(b) Have a nnmber of combinations on the board. 
One child begins the gamę by going to the board 
and writing the first answer. He calls npon another 
child to continne the gamę in like manner. The 
close attention of the entire class is necessary to 
detect mistakes. When one occurs, the child who 
first notices it, stands and corrects the answer or 
criticizes the formation of a figurę, as the case may 
be. In their desire to have something to say, of 
conrse, many children will be over critical. This 
miist be checked, or much valnable time will be 
wasted. Then, there is the child who enjoys atten- 
tion. Occasionally such a child purposely writes an 
incorrect answer to get the desired attention. This 
also has to be watched for and checked. The pre- 
ceding gamę may be raried by nsing the elliptical 
form of combinations, and having the children sup- 
ply the missing figurę. 

(c) Problem work. One child gives a problem 
such as, "A boy bought seven marbles one day and 
three marbles another day. IIow many marbles did 
he have?" He calls upon another child for the 
answer. If correctly given, the second child may 
state a problem calling upon another child. If his 
answer is incorrect some child stands and corrects 



26 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Mm. This "gamę" may be varied by having part of 
the class worldng at the board, the rest ready to 
correct. When a mistake in written work occurs, 
the child who detects it passes to the board and 
makes the necessary correction. 

In this exercise, there is splendid opportunity for 
correlating language with niimber. Reąuire com- 
plete statements, careful use of words and different 
ways of expressing the same idea and so forth. Herę, 
also, is an opportunity to form habits of politeness. 
They learn that ''Jennie, I think you madę a mis- 
take," is to be preferred to, "That is wrong." 

DRILL FROM CARDS 

Each child is given a card on which are such 
numbers as follows : 

27 14 18 26 

9 8 9 5 



The cards are placed on the desk showing only the 
plain white side. A child is called upon. He ąuickly 
holds up his card so that all members of the class can 
see it plainly, and calls upon someone to give the 
result at sight. If the one called upon fails, the re- 
sult is given by the child who holds the card and 
asks the cpiestions. When the answer is given the 
pupil who has been called upon holds up his card 
and calls upon some other member of the class. As 
soon as the cards are added, each pupil turns his 



28 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

card over so that the side upon wliich the figures are 
written are in sight. In this manner, the pupils can 
readily tell who has previoiisly shown his card. The 
last child to hołd iip his card calls upon the child 
who has first shown his card. This gives each mem- 
ber of the class a chance to add one set of figures. 

PROBLEMS 

Each pupil brings to the class an original problem. 
One pupil is called upon to read his problem. He 
then asks some member of the class to repeat and 
solve it. Ali members of the class are listening and 
ready to help the one who is solving it, should he 
be slow to understand. Any of the pupils may rise 
and ask ąuestions of the one who has given the 
problem, or any member of the class. The drill is 
thus continued. 

BOARD DRILL 

Examples are written on slips, thus giving each 
child at the board a different example. The pupils 
place examples on the board, writing their initials 
over their work. As soon as a pupil has finished 
and proved his problem, he changes places with an- 
other member of the class. Each child carefully cor- 
rects the example before him. If he finds a mistake 
he calls the pupil who has worked the example to 
the board and talks it over with him. After the 
work has been corrected, the pupil who has corrected 
it places his initials in colored crayon under the 
initials of the pupil who has placed the problem on 




29 



30 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

the board. Then he passes to his cliair. After the 
pupils are seated they look over all the work on the 
board for mistakes which have been overlooked by 
the pupil previously correcting. When everyone has 
finished and is seated, the pupils are allowed to tell 
of any mistakes which they may still see and which 
may have been overlooked. 



SOCIALIZING THE ORAŁ READING 
PERIOD 

The use of the reading periods for developing a 
morę complete social experience during the hours 
when pupils are in direct contact with the experi- 
ences of other characters (those of the world of 
literaturę) is perhaps the easiest approach for those 
who wish to bring into play the completely social- 
ized recitation. In fact, we strongly recommend 
working out the social phase in a single selected 
subject, and, after a reasonable snccess and under- 
standing is secured, adopting the soeialized method 
in an additional subject. Thus gradually and with- 
out any disorganization of the classroom the trans- 
fer from the older form of recitation is madę possible 
throughout the entire program. (It is conceded that 
any change of method will at lirst seem to tend 
toward confusion ; but by reorganizing the class- 
room subjects one by one, we shall find the change 
not confusing but invigorating ; the results, not 
weakened but morę vital and less stereotyped.) As 
has been suggested, the beginner will find the orał 
reading period not difficult to organize with the 
social end in view. And when she watches the 
child's natural joy as his mind opens out through 

31 



32 



GENERAL PLAN. 33 



search whieh he himself direets, she must rejoice ; 
she will better understand the real meaning of the 
words of Gerald Stanley Lee : ^' Any training in the 
use of bool« tłiat does not base its whole method on 
rousing the instinct of curiosity, and keeping it 
aroused, is a wholesale slaughter, not only of the 
minds that might live in the books, but of the books 
themselves. To ignore the central curiosity of a 
child's life, his natural power of self-discovery in 
books, is to dispense with the force of gravity in 
books, instead of taking advantage of it." 

In generał the important points. for the teacher to 
help work out will be the following : 

(a) That pupils ask the meaning of unfamiliar 
words. 

(b) That pupils give individual opinions concern- 
ing the lesson or facts in the lesson. 

(c) That different expressions be used in asking 
for corrections, criticisms, suggestions, etc. 

The pupils watch carefully for the good points as 
well as for the weak. They read to the class rather 
than to the teacher. 

At first the work progresses slowly, but gradually 
the pupils become accustomed to the method, and 
the language and expressions become elear and defi- 
nite. The children are much morę interested in 
carrying on a reading lesson in this way. It secures 
attention, for the child understands that he is to 
have a part in making the corrections if there are any 
to be madę. He feels free to ask about any part of 
the lesson not elear, and he does all this in a cour- 



34 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

teous way. The child feels a great responsibility 
because he is the one to right the incorrect word. 
Each pupil adds his storę of knowledge and experi- 
ence. 

DEFINITE SUGGESTIONS FOR SOCIALIZING 
THE YARIETIES OF READING WORK 

Because of the entirely different problem of the 
teacher of the beginner in reading and of the teacher 
who receives pupils who are already masters of the 
mechanics of reading, it seems a morę definite work- 
ing basis to subdivide the orał reading classes ac- 
cording to the different powers of the pupils. Ali 
pupils of the elementary school may be grouped 
under one of the following three classifications, ac- 
cording to the necessary means by which we expect 
them to gain the thought from the printed symbol : 

I Blackboard Reading. 
II Reading from Text-books. 
III General Reading. 

BLACKBOARD READING 

During the early part of the first year we believe 
that blackboard reading holds the important place; 
also, that this blackboard reading is a reading period 
separate and complete in itself, and not purely a 
phonic period nor a word drill period. The black- 
board reading is to he defimMy prepared for by the 
separate word drill period — just as the reading of a 
piece of literaturę should be preceded by a drill of 



GENERAL PLAN. 35 

words selected for their difficulty. 

When piipils have been thoroughly drilled iipon 
the new words of the added vocabulary, they are 
ready for the blackboard reading of sentences which 
contain a new arrangement of the words previoiisly 
drilled upon. These sentences of 7iew arrangement of 
the new or other review words constittite the real 
readlng drill of a class at this stage. The almost 
memorized arrangement of the ''type sentence" 
often nsed is in reality only a word drill, — the read- 
ing itself really beginning with the power to regronp 
known words and phrases. 

The big point to insist upon in this initial reading 
is the correct phrasing. At first it is permissible to 
use check marks to indicate the proper phrasing: 

e.g. The dog x fonnd a piece x of meat. 

The order of procedurę is as follows : 

1. Pupil stands at board with two pointers, in- 
closing the first groiip of words to be read. (In 
sentence ąuoted there are three groups: 

(a) The dog 

(b) found a piece 

(c) of meat.)- 

He continues through one sentence or several 
sentences — according to the advancement of the 
class. 

2. Pupils are allowed to explain a word which 
puzzles the pupil who is reading orally. This word 
mustthenberecordedinsome wayby the teacher and 



THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 



later impressed during another word drUl. Guard 
against giving too much time in the reading period 
to long halts for reviewing word drills. Pupils, who 
are ready to assist should be given opportimity to do 
so, and the word again incliided in another word 
drill. 

3. Pupils are allowed to criticize an unsatisfac- 
tory recitation if able to show how they prefer the 
sentence to be read. 

In connection with the above work, the wise 
teacher will also make a larger use each year of the 
dramatic instinct during the beginning reading 
work. Dramatizing the stories told by the teacher 
preparatory to drilling upon vocabulary found in the 
story is a splendid means of drawing out the morę 
timid children and making them freer to speak and 
to attempt the newer problems. Another phase of 
dramatic work is also appealing to the child who has 
reached the linę of simple sentence reading. Groups 
of action sentences are placed on the board in readi- 
ness for this drill. Different pupils are given op- 
portunity to select any sentence to ''act out" — other 
pupils guess the sentence by reading from board the 
sentence supposed to apply to the action. 



„ 1 p I Girls -^wmT,. 

Examples of \ ^ +4./ • i 
.' A , < Kun to the wmdow. 



Action Sentence. 



Wave the flag ! 



Innumerable action sentences can be compiled by 
the teacher from the regular vocabulary. 



GENERAL PLAN. 37 

READING FROM TEXTS 

A. General Readers 

B. Dramatic Readers. 

This division of the work comprises perhaps the 
larges,t amount of reading drill at present carried 
on in the American publie school. Herę then lies the 
large field, — a field for so arranging the work that 
the child does not cease to exercise his mind, that he 
reads not because he rimst, but that he may read 
understandingly and with a desire to return again 
and again ; that the habit of literary browsing may 
grow upon him each year, thus enabling him to forge 
his attitude toward all real literaturę. This aftlfiide 
is morę than any group of facts he may glean during 
the year 's work with any reading text ; for if this 
attitude is right, he is on the road to all that liter- 
aturę may of¥er within the school walls and without! 
This, surely, is the teaeher's largest aim, and some 
definite scheme must be thought out, whereby the 
child does not feel the assignment to be simply a 
task. On the other hand, he must not only be given 
opportunity for this freedom of growth, but he must 
be given some definite direetion by which he is led 
on by the teacher to this opportunity which is to be 
his. It is, furthermore, one of the teacher 's duties 
so to plan that the new freedom of the classroom may 
not be wasted by the willing but inexperienced 
pupils who do not yet know how to use it. Tt is for 
her to plan what definite ways and means contribute 
best tow^ard bringing out the inner child too often 
hidden. " Lure him on. It is education," must be 



38 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

our new slogan, remembering that "a work of art 
cannot be taiight to a pupil in any other way than 
by making this same pupil a poet, by getting him to 
discover himself." 

Włiat first stepping-stones shall we place in the 
pupils' way so that they must, unconsciously yet of 
necessity, choose this road to larger growth which 
in the classroom is only possible where the class 
work is freed from the dictatorial restraint or eon- 
tinual suggestion of the teacher ? In what way shall 
we remoYe the teacher 's continuous patching and 
prompting which either sums up or (worse still) in- 
terrupts the thoughts which the children should be 
expressing or given opportunity to develop? One of 
the ways of transferring the center of thought pro- 
gression to the pupil is as follows : 

I. Pupils may choose one of their number to sum 
up that part of the story read in a previous period ; 
e.g. when reading a book of length similar to 
Baldwin's Robinson Crusoe, or even stories con- 
tinuing but three or four pa ges, a pupil should an- 
nounce before the beginning of the daily reading 
the characters already met in the story and the plan 
of action up to the present lesson. This introduc- 
tion makes for careful connection and accuracy, in 
addition to larger interest upon the part of both the 
ąuestioner and the pupil chosen to make the sum- 
mary. (The class need spend but two or three 
minut es introducing the lesson, for only the short, 
coneise summary is to be reąuired.) 

II. After orally reading a section of the text, the 



GENERAL PLAN. 39 

pupil may question or receive ąuestions concerning 
the part which he has read : 

(a) Conceming content of seetion. 

(b) Concerning words, phrases, etc. 

e.g. (1) At this point the magician flew into a 
passioii. 

(2) Aladdin was scized with a desire to see 

her face. 
(Third Reader arrangement of Alad- 
din and His Lamp.) 

(3) It has hurned Mm to a crisp. 

(First Reader arrangement of a 
Spanish Folk Tale.) 

(4) The great city does not knowingly al- 

low anyone to starve loithin its 
limits. 
(Second Reader arrangement of A 
Friend in Need.) 

The pupil may also cali for a summary of the see- 
tion read. 

III. Pupil chooses the one who is to follow him 
in continuing the orał reading. 

IV. After most of the period has been spent thus, 
it should be concluded by a short summary of the 
entire story if completed or of the number of sections 
read during the period. 

V. In stories of greater length than fables, as 
well as in geographical and history readers, naturę 
books, etc, an outline may be kept on the board, 
and built up by the pupils' daily additions. We 



E 




•^i 



40 



GENERAL PLAN. 41 

will ilhistrate by considering "Tlie Story of Midas 
or The Golden Touch." 

Pupils should develop power to iiame each sec- 
tion — the best name being selected from the many 
offered and added to the outline kept on the board. 
It will be noted that this topieal designation is a 
splendid proof of knowledge of content. 

In the snggested story, we may develop an outline 
similar to the f ollowing : 

1. The Dissatisfied King. 

2. The Stranger's Visit. 

3. The Miraenlous Touch 

(a) The king's joy. 

(b) The king's despair. 

4. Return of the Stranger. 

(a) His other power. 

(b) His generosity. 

5. A Changed King. 

Such outlines may be of the greatest use in cor- 
relating reading, geography, natnre, history, or 
other topies, with the language composition drills 
both orał and written. By talking or w^iting from 
such outlines compiled by pupils, it will be seen how 
readily story-telling, or reproduction of Information 
paragraphs, may grow out of the reading lessons. 
A detailed discussion of such language work is not 
necessary here, but the merę suggestion is madę in 
the hope that the one subject will not be separated 
from the other, for both should be but different 
avenues to the one aim of aJl literaturę — the chilcVs 
reaction to the author's message. Our literaturę 



42 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

whether of the reading or language period is chosen 
with that end in view, for the great juvenile litera- 
turę like the triily great book 'Mepends now and 
forever npon what it makes a man say back." 

DRAMATIC READING 

This type of reading may be socialized by arrang- 
ing for the following issues: 

1. Class stage manager should read story the day 
before class first work out the piece. 

2. Stage manager should be prepared to an- 
nounce number of characters needed, materials and 
properties suggested, and localities where different 
characters live or which they are to visit. 

3. Pupils are to decide on the places in room 
which will serve for localities listed. 

4. Pupils are to decide what materials at hand 
shall be substituted for those called for in story. 
Their own ingenuity will suggest wonderful substi- 
tutes. The teacher should not dictate. She will soon 
discover that the pupils really prefer using objects 
at hand to materiał brought in from outside the 
schoolroom. E.g. a pointer makes a good fish-pole; 
a chair itself is sufticiently royal for any throne. 

5. Try-outs for each character part makes for in- 
terest. Have pupils choose the best from four or five 
readings by different indiyiduals. The best one for 
the part will invariably be chosen. 

6. Different groups must be given opportunity to 



GENERAL PLAN. 43 

read the story. Comparison of groups shonld be 
madę. 

7. The class shoiild be encouraged to search for 
parts in whieh those not actually reading aloud may 
take part. Most stories suitable for dramatizing of- 
fer opportunities for large groups. 

fWm^ may be personified by humming. 
E.g. < Forests, by several pnpils standing with arms 
[ raised. 

GENERAL READING 

The ultimate test of the control of the mechanics 
of reading is the ability to read with a reasonable 
degree of fluency what is known as General Read- 
ing. This branch of the work is gradiially inereas- 
ing in the best elassrooms. It includes a definite ex- 
perience with the following, which the child will 
meet in his outside lif e : 

1. Selected newspaper articles. 

2. Selected magazine clippings. 

3. Reading of railroad folders deseriptive of in- 
teresting localities. 

4. Library books belonging to the school. 

5. Miscellaneous articles accepted and approved 
by the teacher. 

The time allotted to this sort of work will natur- 
ally vary with the daily program. The work 
need only be tried to prove the genuine power 
it develops in reading intelligently to others. The 



44 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

work with newspaper articles or clippings from 
magazines will probably lead to the growth of a 
current events bulletin board — added to and ar- 
ranged by the piipils. The library book read by one 
child may be of such interest to him that he will 
want to read some of it alond to the class, adding 
in his own words enough of the complete story to 
interest his fellows in reading the book. Lists of 
books by the same author may be posted for those 
who wish to read others. During morning exer- 
cises, an entire book may be read aloud in this way 
by several pupils chosen for their ability to read 
clearly and magnetically. The ten minutes spent 
thus will prove one of the most popular periods of 
the day — besides adding to the pupils' growing in- 
terest in the worth-while type of reading. 

These suggestions for variations in the reading 
period naturally cannot include a discussion of types 
of readers or the character of the literaturę to be 
selected. The subject is too large and the principle 
of selection too subtle to admit of discussion here. 
It is assumed, therefore, that the reading materiał 
has been selected with a serious, yet sympathetie 
interest so that the socialized reading class may not 
be cramped by lack of suitable selections. There are 
so many good readers and so many standard lists of 
juvenile books that poor selection of materiał seems 
inexcusable. The duli book or the one revealing 
miracles to the waiting child — which shall we 
ehoose? Should we not weigh all reading materiał 
morę sanely if we never forgot that "reading a book 
is a gamę a man plays with his own infinity?" 



III 

ACTUAL LESSONS AS 
ILLUSTRATIONS 

It has been stated on good authority, based upon 
careful investigation that the teacher uses twenty- 
one words to one nsed by the pupil. If this is the 
case, it is ąuite evident that children take but little 
active part in the recitation. It should cease to be 
a souree of wonder that pupils fail in that mastery 
of English of which they should be capable. The 
proportion should be reversed. The children should 
use the twenty-one words to the one used by the 
teacher. Let the children be trained to talk and to 
play that active part in the recitation- which will en- 
able them to master their orał English and such 
other work as f alls to them to do. 

This can best be illustrated by the following series 
of lessons. These were taken down stenographically, 
and have not been revised. They represent the reci- 
tation as it is now being used in the public schools 
of Port Chester. The several subjects of the daily 
program are illustrated by actual lessons taught in 
the classroom. 

45 



dl 






46 



HISTORY LESSON— GRADE VII. 

The Struggle for the Hudson River and Middle 
States in 1777. 

1. Burgoyne's campaign — plan. 

a. Brilliant beginning. Crown Point ; Ti- 

conderoga. 

b. Difficulties of the General. 

c. Battle of Bennington. 

d. Failnre of Howe to meet Burgoyne. 

e. Battle of Saratoga — Importance of this 

battle. 

2. St. Leger's Campaign — plan. 

a. Attack on Fort Stanwix. 

b. Failnre of plan — reasons. 

c. *EfPect of this failnre npon the generał 

plan. 

Teacher: We are going to recite on Burgoyne 's 
campaign to-day. The first topie will be the brilliant 
beginning. The capture of Crown Point and Fort 
Tieonderoga will come under the topie. Carlton, 
what can you tell us of Burgoyne and his plan ? 

Carlton: (Rises and faces the class.) General 
Burgoyne left Canada on his way to Albany where 

47 



48 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

he was to meet General Iłowe. He went as far as 
the head of Lakę Champlain when his difficulties 
began. He marched through the wilderness along 
the border of Lakę Champlain and reached Lakę 
George. General Schuyler, the American com- 
mander, had gone ahead and felled trees, destroyed 
bridges and placed many obstacles in his Avay. Bur- 
goyne's men were exhansted and his provisions were 
giving out. He then sent a detachment to Benning- 
ton, Yermont, where the Americans kept their pro- 
yisions and ammunition. (Carlton then called upon 
the class for corrections. Pupils who had sugges- 
tions and corrections to make rosę ąuietly and stood 
by their seats until recognized.) 

Carlton : Bessie, what have you got to say to 
me? 

Bessie : Which way did Burgoyne come to 
Albany, Carlton? 

Carlton: Burgoyne left Canada with about 
eight thousand men and crossed the St. Lawrence 
river and captured Ticonderoga which is south of 
Lakę George. This was the brilliant beginning. 

Alma: Carlton, where was it that Schuyler 
began to obstruct the way? 

Carlton : Beginning at Lakę George, the country 
was laid waste for about twenty miles around. 

George: Carlton, you said that Burgoyne cap- 
tured Fort Ticonderoga which is south of Lakę 
George. How could he go along Lakę Champlain, 
then? 

Carlton: He went along the shores of Lakę 
Champlain and captured Ticonderoga. Thank you, 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 49 

George, I madę a mistake. 

Joseph : Carlton, what did Burgoyne have before 
starting out on the expedition? 

Carlton : Burgoyne had a large amount of am- 
munition, horses and provisions. 

Joseph : He had a war feast with the Indians. 
What American generał met Burgoyne 's regiment at 
Bennington, Yermont ? 

Carlton: Colonel Stark met Burgoyne 's men 
before they reached Bennington. 

Ertc : What kind of soldiers had Burgoyne in his 
army? 

Carlton : Indians, Hessians, Canadians and 
British. 

Marion : Carlton, after Schuyler blocked General 
Burgoyne 's way, how many miles did they go ? 

Carlton : Not morę than three or four miles. 

Anna : It was no morę than one mile, Carlton. 

Herbert: Carlton, Burgoyne was at Fort Edward 
for a few days before his provisions gave out. 

Carlton: I don't think he was, Herbert. 

Herbert: It said so in the book, Carlton. 

Carlton: Will you please find that in the book, 
Bertha? (Bertha takes out her book and reads — 
"Builders of Our Country — Book II — page QQ. By 
the time he had been a few days at Fort Edward, he 
began to feel the want of fresh horses and the need 
of new supplies.") 

Chester : Who eame up from New York to meet 
General Burgoyne? 

Carlton : General Howe was to eome up from 
the South and St. Leger from the West. 



50 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Chester : Did Howe carry out his plan ? 

Carlton : No. 

George : When General Burgoyne started out 
from Canada, how many men did he have, Erie? 

Eric : I tliink he had about eight thousand men. 

Hazel : What position did General Schuyler hołd, 
Alvin ? 

Alyin : He was, General over the North American 
troops. 

Clifford : How long did it delay Burgoyne by 
chopping down of trees and bridges, Carlton? 

Carlton : About three weeks. 

The teacher next called upon Herbert to go to the 
front of the room and tracę the route of Burgoyne 
on the map of New York State. 

Herbert : After Burgoyne left Canada he started 
down the west shore of Lakę Champlain until he 
reached Fort Crown Point and captured it. Ten days 
later he captured Fort Ticonderoga and followed 
down the shore of Lakę George until he came to Fort 
Edward. After he left Fort Edward, he started 
down the west shore of the Hudson river until he 
came to Stillwater (Saratoga) and was defeated 
there. 

William : He stopped at Fort Edward for a few 
days, Herbert, and his supplies were running Iow. 
He sent Hessians to Bennington, Yermont, where 
the Americans had their supplies stored. 

Hazel : William, that wasn't a main force — that 
was only a part of his force. I should think you 
would follow the main forces. 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 51 

George: Herbert, you didn't say that he stopped 
at Bemis Heights. 

Carlton : George, what happened at Bemis 
Heights? Why did you mention it? 

George : The Americans were stationed at Bemis 
Heights where Gates and his army were encamped. 

Hazel : On which side of the Hudson river and in 
what state is Stillwater, Herbert? 

Herbert : Stillwater is on the west side of the 
Hudson river and in Saratoga county. 

Bertha : I understood you to say that General 
Burgoyne went from Ticonderoga down to Crown 
Point. It should be up to Crown Point because the 
water flows the other way. 

The teacher next called upon Edwin to tell about 
the Battle of Bennington. 

Edwin : General Burgoyne was coming down 
from Canada to meet General Howe and St. Leger 
at Albany. He got as far as Fort Edward when his 
supplies gave out. He sent 1,000 Hessian soldiers 
to get the American supplies and horses. When 
they got there they were met by General Stark who 
said "There they are, boys! We beat them to-day, 
or IMollie Stark 's a widów!" They were defeated 
and 100 of the 1,000 Hessians Avent back to the army. 
The others were either killed or wounded by the 
Americans. 

Alma: Edwin, were they all killed or wounded? 

Edwin : Some were killed, some wounded and 
captured. 

EvELYN: Edwin, I don't think Colonel Stark 



52 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

said, ''There they are, boys ! We beat them to-day 
or Mollie Stark's a widów!" 

Edwin: I beg yoiir pardon, Evelyn, but Colonel 
Stark did say it. Herę it is (takes out his book and 
reads) ''Builders of Our Country — Book II page 67 
— There they are, boys, etc " 

Eric : Werę the troops part of the Continental 
or State Militia? 

Edwin : I think they were of the Yermont 
Militia. 

Clifford : Whose supplies were stored at Ben- 
nington, Evelyn — American or British? 

Eyelyn: i think it was British. 

Clifford: No, it was American, and the British 
thought they could easily capture the stores and 
supplies, but they were defeated by Colonel Stark. 

Teacher : We will now recite on the failure of 
Howe to meet Burgoyne and the importance of the 
battle of Saratoga. Clifford, you may begin the 
recitation. 

Clifford: General Howe failed to meet Bur- 
goyne because Washington was encamped in New 
Jersey a few miles from New York. Howe would 
not come out for he knew Washington had too many 
men for him. Howe gave up the attempt to draw 
Washington out, and thought he would try and 
capture the city of Philadelphia, so he embarked 
in ships and sailed down the Atlantic ocean and up 
the Chesapeake Bay, and landed at the head of 
Chesapeake Bay at Elkton. A few miles from 
Elkton was Brandywine Creek. 

After Washington had kept Howe around Phila- 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 53 

delphia for two weeks, he knew it was long enough 
so Howe could not possibly get back to Saratoga to 
help Burgoyne. Then, Washington took his army 
and went into winter encampment at Valley Forge. 
(George rosę and was recognized by Clifford who 
asked — ) What is it, George ? 

George: Clifford, why didn't Howe carry out his 
plan? 

Clifford : Washington kept him fighting aronnd 
Philadelphia. 

George: No, I think he thought if he could 
capture the capital of the United States he could 
get a medal from the king. Do you know what man 
proposed this plan to Howe, Clifford? 

Clifford: No, I don't, George. Who was it? 

George : General Charles Lee had been captured, 
but the British said that if they could capture Phila- 
delphia, which was the capital, then they might hołd 
some of the leaders. 

Bessie : How many British were captured at the 
Battle of Saratoga? 

Clifford: I haven't come to that topie yet, 
Bessie. 

Joseph: Howe didn't go by water first, he went 
by land to Jersey. What did Washington do that 
madę Howe go back to New York? 

Alyin: He stayed on the heights around Mor- 
ristown. He did the same as Philip Schuyler did to 
Burgoyne. He w^orried him so, that Howe returned 
to New York. 

Hazel : How many years later was it found out 
that Charles Lee was a traitor, William? ' 



54 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

William : It was found out eighty years after, 
when a document was found in Lee's handwriting. 

Charles : What city was the capital of the 
United States at that time, Bertha, and what did 
they cali it? 

Bertha : Philadelphia was the capital and it was 
ealled the Quaker City because Penn was a Quaker 
and was the Governor of Pennsylvania. 

Teacher : Bessie, you may recite upon the battle 
of Saratoga. 

Bessie: General Burgoyne was getting out sup- 
plies and ammunition to take to Saratoga. He took 
with him 8,000 men. The British were defeated and 
the Amerieans captured or killed 6,000 British sol- 
diers. Then, they passed out of the city bearing the 
flag of the stars and stripes. The importance of 
this battle was that so many of the English soldiers 
and Burgoyne were defeated and sent back to Can- 
ada. (Bessie then asked if there were any correc- 
tions to be madę.) 

Herbert : We learned in the beginning of the 
lesson that Burgoyne had 8,000 men at the Battle of 
Bennington. He lost 1,000 men, and if he had 8,000 
in the beginning, I don't see how he started with 
8,000 morę for the battle of Saratoga. 

Chester: He started out with 7,000— lost 6,000 
and had 1,000, and could not go very far with 1,000. 

Marion: i think he did start out Avith 8,000 but 
there were many Tories. 

Alma: If Burgoyne didn't have any supplies, 
why did he start down for the Battle of Saratoga? 

George : Burgoyne thought that Howe would 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 55 

come lip from New York and bring supplies and St. 
Leger would eome from the Great Lakes and bring 
supplies, so he thought it would be safe. 

Herbert : If he thought Howe or St. Leger 
would come, he should have waited at Fort Edward 
for he had two forts captured and should have 
waited for supplies before he fought so import ant 
a battle. 

Bessie: I don't know the exact reason why he 
didn't stay there, but I think that he thought if he 
went down further, he would meet Howe sooner and 
conąuer the rest of the States. 

Herbert : Perhaps you are right, Bessie, but I 
think Burgoyne was a foolish generał because he 
had madę mistakes already, and when he had these 
two forts he should have put a force there. 

Bessie: I think that is right, Herbert. What 
have you to say to me, Alvin? 

Alvin: How was Burgoyne starved into submis- 
sion, Bessie? 

Bessie: The Americans had enough supplies and 
ammunition to keep up the fight for a long time, 
but Burgoyne didn't have enough, so at last he was 
forced to submit to the Americans. They fought 
the deeisive battle and beat the English. 

Bertha : What man planned the position for the 
Americans at Bemis Heights, Alma? 

Alma : General Schuyler did. 

George : No, Alma, Kosciusko did. 

Alma: Who was he, George, I never heard of 
him? 

George : He was a Polish man who came to 



56 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

America to fight. Bessie, give two results of the 
Battle of Saratoga. 

Bessie: Two results were that Burgoyne was 
defeated and the English lost many soldiers. 

John: Bessie, I think that one result was that 
France acknowledged the independence of the col- 
onists, and another was that it was the turning point 
in the War of the Revolution and that it was one of 
the most decisive battles in the world's history. 

Bessie: Who got the credit for the battle? 

Anna: General Gates, but he shouldn't have re- 
ceived the credit for he wasn't on the field when 
the battle was fought. Arnold and Lee should have 
received the credit because those two men and their 
sharp shooters won the battle. 

Alma : No, Bessie, General Lee was an English 
fighter and Arnold turned traitor before this battle 
was fought. Him and IMorgan decided that it was 
the Virginia sharp shooters that won the battle of 
Saratoga. These men could throw up an apple and 
shoot the seeds out. 

Clifford : Alma, you said, ^^him and Morgan," 
you should have said, ^^he and Morgan." 

Alma : What was the first American flag madę of , 
Hazel ? 

Hazel: i don't know, do you, Ruth? 

RuTH : The first American flag was madę of a 
red flannel petticoat. 

Harold : It was madę of morę than that. If it 
was a red flannel petticoat it had to have blue and 
white on it. 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 57 

Chester : The bliie was -f rom a blue pair of pants 
and the white from a white flannel shirt. 

Alvin: Benedict Arnold was not a traitor at the 
fight at Saratoga. He wasn't a traitor nntil later 
years when he was at West Point. He was at the 
Battle of Saratoga with IMorgan. 

John : Bessie, give the dates of the Battle of 
Saratoga. 

Bessie : In November 19 and October 7, 1777, the 
battles were fought at Saratoga. 

Anna: At the Battle of Saratoga, France helped 
the Amerieans. How long after did she help them, 
Evelyn ? 

Eyelyn : France helped the Amerieans nntil the 
end of the Revolntionary War. 

William : John, when yon were reeiting on the 
importance of the Battle of Saratoga, yon said it was 
a decisive battle. What do yon mean by deciswef 

John : I mean by decislre that it was all on one 
side. 

Helen : William, I think decislre means the tnrn- 
ing point of a war. 

Herbert : The Battle of Saratoga was one of the 
fifteen decisiye battles of the world, and of every bat- 
tle fonght this was the most decisive. This battle 
was most decisive becanse it broke np the English 
plan of separating New England from the rest of the 
Colonies becanse New England was part of the Col- 
onies. 

Teacher : We will next take np St. Leger's cam- 
paign following the conrse of St. Leger. Edward 
may begin. 



58 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Edward: St. Leger sailed up the St. Lawrence 
river to Lakę Ontario, stopping at Oswego for two 
or three weeks. Oswego was the place where the 
supplies and provisions were kept. From Oswego, 
he went up the Mohawk river to Oneida Lakę until 
he came to Romę which was then Oriskany. There 
he laid siege to Fort Stanwix. Are there any cor- 
rections to be madę, Clifford? 

Clifford : Benedict Arnold came iip through the 
Mohawk river and captured two smali boys. At 
first he thought he would have them killed, but then 
he said that he would spare their lives if the oldest 
one did what he wanted him to. He shot the boy's 
coat fuli of bullet holes and told him to go back to 
St. Leger and tell him an American army was eoming 
with as many men as the leaves on the trees. 

John: Clifford, you said, "He shot the boy's coat 
fuli of bullet holes." If they did that wouldn't that 
give a signal to the British so they could get away? 
I think the boy cut the holes in his coat himself. 

Clifford : Weil, I read it in the book and I can 
prove it. Herę it is "Builders of Our Country — 
page 71 — ^The boy agreed. His coat was then shot 
fuli of bullet holes, and in tliis same coat, he was 
sent rushing into St. Leger 's lines to tell of an ap- 
proaching American army as numerous as the leaves 
on the trees." 

John: Thank you, Clifford. 

Bertha: Edward, Howe started at New York 
and Burgoyne from the northern part of New York. 
Why didn't St. Leger start at Buffalo? 



ACTUAL LESSOM S AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 59 

Edward: I think he started from that part of 
Canada because Ottawa, the capital, is right there. 

Bertha: Ottawa isn't the most important place 
for English siipplies. 

Alma: The Americans took the arms and am- 
munition at the Battle of Stanwix. What did they 
take for trophies, Herbert? 

Herbert : They took five English flags. 

Alyin: St. Leger started out with many Tories 
and Indians. He may have had a smali army too. 
The Indians ran away when they heard Arnold was 
eoming. They thought he was a god. St. Leger 
stayed as long as he could. 

Clifford : Whj^ did the Indians think he was a 
god? 

Alvin: Because they didn't see how one man 
could have so many soldiers. 

Eyelyn : What Indians helped the British, Alvin ? 

Alyin : The Iroąuois Indians. 

Marion: What help did they give, Hazel? 

Hazel : They did morę harm than help because 
if St. Leger hadn't had them he might have had a 
chance to fight Arnold, for other soldiers would have 
stayed with him. 

Eric : Clifford, was the battle of Oriskany fought 
in an open field? 

Clifford : No, it was fought in the woods. 

Eric: I don't mean that. Did they go right out 
and fight? 

Clifford : No, they hid behind trees and am- 
bushes. 



60 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Carlton: Who was the better generał— Biir- 
goyne or St. Leger? 

George : Burgoyne was, because he got nearer to 
Albany. 

Carlton: St. Leger was better because he didn't 
go all over and try and fight everybody at once. 

George: Burgoyne was the better because he 
didn't have a place to stop for supplies like St. 
Leger. When he got short of supplies, he tried to 
get supplies by fighting for them, but he couldn't 
get any. Burgoyne had morę courage and was the 
younger of the two generals. He w^as only twenty- 
one years old. 

Joseph: St. Leger wasn't afraid, for he stood 
until the last one, while his men ran away when they 
heard guns. 

Bertha: Clifford, who warned the Americans 
that the Indians were lying in ambush for them at 
Oriskany? 

Clifford : An Indian spy. 

Chester : Lillian, name a generał that was 
wounded in the battle of Oriskany, and tell what he 
did after he was wounded. 

Lillian : General Herkimer was wounded and 
sat under a tree. He lit his corn-cob pipę and di- 
rected the battle, telling his men just what they 
should do. 

Chester: What nationality was Herkimer, Lil- 
lian ? 

Lillian : Herkimer was a Scotchman. 

Bessie: The book savs he was a German. 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 61 

Chester: AYell, I suppose I '11 have to take what 
tłie book says. 

Teacher : Class, we will now havę a brief sum- 
mary of Burgoyne's campaign. Carlton, you may 
give the summary. 

Carlton:' Burgoyne was a British generał who 
came from Canada to Albany by way of Lakę Cham- 
plain. He captiired Crown Point and Fort Tieon- 
deroga. He was later delayed by General Schuyler. 
an American generał who eut down bridges and 
felled trees and laid waste the country. After a 
hard struggle Burgoyne reached Fort Edward where 
his supplies were diminished. The Americans kept 
their supplies at Bennington, Yermont. Burgoyne 
sent 1000 Hessians to capture these supplies. Herę 
they were opposed and defeated by General Stark. 
Because of the lack of supplies and ammunition they 
were forced to surrender. They then encamped for 
two weeks at Bemis Heights. Burgoyne then fought 
the Battle of Saratoga, which was a yictory for the 
Americans and ended the campaign. 

Teacher : Herbert, you may now give a brief 
summary of St. Leger's campaign. 

Herbert: St. Leger sailed up the St. Lawrence 
river to Lakę Ontario and landed at Oswego. Some 
Indian tribes joined him here and he marched east 
and laid siege to Fort Stanwix. Here he sent a de- 
tachment to fight against General Herkimer. In the 
meantime, Benedict Arnold set out with twelve hun- 
dred men to save Fort Stanwix. Arnold shot a little 
boy's coat fuli of bullet holes and sent him to St. 
Leger. At the sight of this, all of St. Leger 's men 



G2 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

left him and fled. Tliey were afraid that a ver 
large American arniy was coming and would captui 
them. On accoimt of this trick played hj ArnoL 
St. Leger lost Fort Stanwix. 



HISTORY— GRADE V. 

OUTLINE OF LESSON 

Freneh explorers. 

Chiirch of the kings — ruler. 

How dispiites were settled. 

Freneh king's ideas. 

Yerrazano — his voyages — first landing ; 

seeond landing. 
Return trip and why. 
Map — letter — war and result. 

FIRST T01*IC REYIEW LESSON 

Carmelo : We have studied about Spain which 
sent Columbus on a voyage. Columbus discovered 
the West Indies in 1492, and afterward Spain sent 
colonies to the West Indies. In 1498, Cabot dis- 
covered Labrador for England — and after that the 
English people settled New England. The Dutch 
sent out Henry Hudson. He discovered the Hudson 
river and Hudson bay, and then the Duteh settled 
there, 

Teaciier: John, have you anything to add to 
Carmelo 's recitation ? (No additional contribu- 
tions.) 

Teacher : We will then go on with the Freneh 
explorations. (Several pupils stand.) 

63 



64 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Carmelo : Arthur, will yoii discuss the Frencl 
explorers ? 

Arthur: Włien Columbus discovered America 
all the kings of Europę belonged to the Catholi 
Church. The kings of Spain and Portugal began t' 
ąuarrel over land outside of their kingdoms. Th 
pope settled all of the disputes. He got a map an( 
drew a linę between the north and the south pole 

Thomas (adds) : Then the French king said, "I 
Portugal and Spain are going to have all that land 
ain^t I going to have a share?" So he looked aroun( 
and got a man named Verrazano. 

Ida: Aren't you getting away from your sub 
ject? I think you are to tell us about the Frene] 
king's idea. 

Thomas : I think I ani. 

Yetta : Thomas, what do you mean by "aintV 
You mean ''am T not'' or ^U-an I iiotV'' 

Alice : I don't think the king of France said, ''I 
they are going to have the land, why shouldn' 
we?" 

Daniel: If Spain and Portugal get the land h 
America, why wouldn 't the French have a share too 

Teacher : Who would like to contribute to thi 
subject? 

Carmelo : Yerrazano started his first voyage ii 
1549. (Three pupils immediately stand.) 

John : Some think it was in the year 1554. 

Alonzo : Yerrazano started his voyage in the yea 
1524. 

Henrietta : Yerrazano 's second trip was to New 
foundland. 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 65 

Teacher : I 'd like to hear morę aboiit the first 
trip. (Six pupils immediately rise.) 

Ida : I woiild like Alonzo to prove the statement 
about the datę of Verrazano's discovery. Who is 
right? 

Alonzo (reads) : "Builders of Our Country, page 
143, The French king sent for Verrazano and told 
him that he wanted him to go in search of a passage 
westward to China. Yerrazano consented and in 
1524 started out." 

Teacher : I would like to hear morę about the 
first journey. 

Anna : When Verrazano first landed, his eyes 
met a glad sight. Fires were blazing on the sand! 
This was in North Carolina. Food was scanty and 
he went back to France again. 

Carmelo: What do you mean by scanty food? 

Anna: Scanty food means scarce food — not 
enough. 

Frank : It took forty-nine days to make the 
first voyage. 

Teacher : You have told me the kind of people 
the Pilgrims found when they landed. Now tell me 
the kind of people Yerramno found when he landed. 

Julia : When Yerrazano landed on the shores of 
North Carolina, he found Indians there. They were 
pointing to the shore showing him where he should 
land. 

Medio : Were the Indians friendly to Yerrazano, 
Julia ? 

Julia : Yes, the Indians were friendly to Verra- 
zano. 




66 



ACTUAL LESSOM S AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 67 

Arthur: The Indians ran almost naked — like 
deer. 

Hazel : Arthur, why did they run like deer ? 

Arthur: I don't know. 

Elizabeth : I think they ran like deer because 
they were afraid of the people coming toward them, 
and of the great white ship coming toward them. 

Teacher : Where did he go from North Caro- 
lina? 

Santina : After Verrazano went to Newfound- 
land from North Carolina, his food soon grew 
scarce. That is why he went back to France. 

Sarah : Before he went to France he wrote a 
long letter to the king about the voyage. The king 
was having wars with Italy and he forgot to think 
about the new lands across the sea. 

Helen : Yerrazano 's brother drew a map of 
France. 

Medio : Helen, Verrazano's brother drew a map 
of the Eastem Hemisphere. 

Jennie: The map drawn by Verrazano's brother 
was a linę between the north pole and the south 
pole. 

Sarah : The pope did that ! You are all w^rong. 
Verrazano's brother madę a map of the coast where 
he was riding in his boat — from North Carolina to 
Newfoundland. 

Ida: Can you prove that, Sarah? 

Sarah : Yes ! ' ' Builders of Our Country, page 
142, It was the pope who settled their disputes. He 
took a map and drew upon it a linę from the north 
pole to the south pole, three hundred and seventy 



()cS THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

leagues west of the. Cape Verde Islands " 

Teacher: Is there anything morę to be said 
aboiit this? If not, then let ns have a summary of 
this diseiission. 

Thomas : Tłie French Exploration. After Colum- 
bus had discovered America, the French king was 
at war oiitside of his kingdom. The disputes were 
settled by the pope. The pope drew a linę from the 
north to the south pole and west of the Cape Yerde 
Islands. The French king's idea was that he would 
send out bold seamen and they would explore some 
land in America for the French. He heard of Verra- 
zano, the bold seaman, and he called and told him 
that he should start a year later on the first voyage. 
He landed in North Carolina. From there he went 
to Newfoundland. When food became scarce he re- 
turned to France. Then his brother wrote a map 
shoAving Verrazano's explorations. The map was 
right. Yerrazano wrote a letter to the king telling 
all about the strange people he had scen. He said, 
"They ran like deer. '' At this time France and 
Italy were beginning a war. The French king was 
warring so much that he forgot all about the beauti- 
ful land across the sea. 




69 



REYIEW LANGUAGE LESSON — FIRST 
GRADE 

THE STORY OF CLYTIE 

Teacher: Loijg ago there lived a little girl. 
What was her name, Dorothy? 

DoROTHY : Her name was Clytie. Where was 
her home, Fannie? 

Fannie : Her home was at the bottom of the sea. 
AVhat kind of a home did she have, Sylvia? 

Sylyia : She had a niee little home. What kind 
of carpets did she have, Edith? 

Edith: She had green moss carpets. What was 
her furniture madę out of, Beatrice? 

Beatrice : Her furniture was madę out of coral. 
What color hair did she have, Emily? 

Emily : She had nice yellow hair. What color 
was her dress, Alma? 

Alma : Her dress was a pretty green dress. What 
kind of a carriage did she have, Viola? 

VioLA : She had a shell for her carriage. What 
was her horses? 

Caroline: You said, ''was'^ instead of '^were,'' 
Viola. 

VioLA: I should say, ''What were her horses," 
Jennie ? 

70 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 71 

Jennie : Her horses were goldfish. Where did 
słie go every day, Donald? 

Donald : She went up to the top of the sea. 
What have you goi to say to me, Beatrice ? 

Beatrice: You said, "She went np to the top 
of the sea," and you ought to say, ''She went rid- 
ing every day." 

Jennie: Donakl, you said, "What have you goi 
to say?" instead of "What have you to say?" 

Donald: Excuse me, Jennie, but I don't thiuk I 
did. 

Teaoher : Excuse me, Donald, but you said "^of" 

twice. 

Donald : I '11 try to remember next time to say, 
"What have you to say to me?" Where did she go 
one day, Alma? 

Alma : She went on the top of the sea every day. 

Robert: Alma, you said, "She went on the top 
of the sea every day," and you ought to say, "She 
went, one day, to the top of the sea." 

Alma : Where did she leave her earriage, Em- 

Emily : She left her earriage home. What have 
you to say to me, Beatrice? 

Beatrice: You should say, "She left her ear- 
riage by the shore." 

Emily: (Emily repeated answer.) Where did 
she sit, Robert? 

Robert : She sat on the beach. Where did she 
look, Dorothy? 

Dorothy : She looked at the sun. What was 
the sun doing. Caroline? 



72 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Caiioline: The s,im was just rising. What did 
the sun wake, Edith? 

Edith : • It woke the fiowers. What else did it 
wake, Chapin? 

Chapin: It woke the birds. What else did the 
sun do, Jennie? 

Jennie: The sim shined the dew on the grass. 
What have yoii to say to me, Beatrice ? 

Beatrice : Yoii ought to say ' ^ The sun shoon on 
the gTass. " What have you to say to me, Emily? 

Emily: You should say, "The sun shone on the 
grass. ' ' 

Jennie : Then how did Clytie f eel, Dorothy ? 

DoROTHY : She wished to be like the sun. (Pause) 
What do you want to say to me, Robert ? 

Robert : You waited so long to ask me, Dorothy, 
that I forget what I was going to say. 

Dorothy: What did the sun then do, Helen? 

Helen: The sun went down. What did Clytie 
wish to be like, Chapin? 

Chapin : You should ask. what did Clytie do ? 

Helen: Clytie drove home. I don't know what 
to ask. Alma, you may take my place. 

Alma : Every day what did she do, Robert ? 

Robert : Every day she went to look at the &un. 
One day what did she try to do? 

Chapin: That's not the right ąuestion. You 
ought to have said, "What did Clytie wish morę and 
morę?" 

Robert : What did Clytie wish morę and morę, 
Caroline ? 

Caroline : Clytie wished morę and morę to be 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 73 

like the suii. One day what did Clytie try to do, 
Beatriee? 

Beatrice: Clytie *rc/// ^0 go home. (Seeing Rob- 
ert standing, Beatriee asks) What have you to say 
to me, Robert? 

Robert: Beatriee, you said, "Clytie went to go 
home," and you should have said, "Clytie tried to 
go home." 

Beatrice: What's the difference between the 
two words, Robert? 

Robert: I don't know, Beatrice. 

Beatrice: What did you stand for, then? 

(Teacher interrupts and explains the difference.) 

Beatrice: What had happened to her feet, An- 
ita? 

Anita : Her feet had turned into stems. 

Caroline : No, Anita, you ought to have said, 
"She couldn't move her feet." 

Anita: She couldn't move her feet. Fannie, 
would you ask the uext ąuestion, please? 

Fannie (After being helped by teacher) : M^here 
did she look, Mildred? 

MiLDRED : She looked in the water. What did 
she see, Sylvia? 

Sylyia: She saw herselt*. Dorothy, you may take 
my place. 

Dorothy : What had happened to her hair, Cha- 
pin? 

Chapin : Her hair had turned into petals. What 
had happened to her arms, Beatrice? 

Beatrice : Her arms had turned into leaves. 
What had happened to her green dress, Edith? 



74 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Edith : Her green dress had turned into a stalk. 
What had łiappened to her yellow hair, Fred? 

Fred: That isn't the one. It should be about 
her feet, Edith. 

Edith : What had happened to her feet, Charles? 

Charles : Her feet turned into roots. What did 
she look like, Caroline ? 

Caroline : She looked like a sunflower at last. 
What did you want to say to me, Edith? 

Edith : That isn 't what we say first. 

Caroline : She looked like the smi. What did 
she look like at last, Beatrice? 

Beatrice : She looked like a snnflower at last. 

Teacher: Children, can you think of a good 
ąuestion to ask at the end of the story, Caroline? 

Caroline : What would you think if you saw a 
sunflower now, George ? 

George : I would think it was Clytie with her 
yellow hair. 

Donald: If I passed a sunflower, I'd say, ''Oh, 
there's Clytie!" 



SPELLING— GRADE IV. 

At the beginning of the spelling lesson, the class 
wrote the five words taught the day before and the 
five review words assigned the day before by the 
teacher. The following was the presentation of the 
new spelling words upon which the elass were to be 
tested the following day. 

The teacher plaeed a word upon the blackboard, 
spelling it aloud to the elass, pronouncing it before 
and after spelling it. The first word was D-I-S-A-P- 
P-0-I-N-T. The teacher then called upon Arthur to 
give a sentence containing the word disappoint. 

Arthur: If I do not meet my friend, I will dis- 
appoint him. Marguerite, how many syllables are 
there in the word disappoint'! 

Marguerite: There are three syllables m dis- 
appoint. Joseph, what is the first syllable? 

Joseph: The first syllable is D-I-S. (Teacher 
then drew linę, marking off first syllable.) Arthur, 
what is the second syllable? 

Arthur: The second syllable is A-P. (Teacher 
marked second syllable.) Michael, what is the third 
syllable? 

]\IicHAEL : The third syllable is P-0-I-N-T. Har- 
old, what is the first accent? (Lillian rosę and was 
recognized by Michael.) 

75' 



76 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

MicHAEL : Have you any corrections to make, 
Lillian ? 

LiLLiAN : Yes, Michael, you should not ask what 
the first accent is, there is only one main accent in 
any word. 

Michael: Thank you, Lillian. Harold, on which 
syllable is the accent? 

Harold: The accent is on the third syllable. 
(Teacher marked the accent on the third syllable.) 

Harold then called upon the fifth row to go to the 
blackboard, and directed each one to write a sen- 
tence containing the word disappoint. While this 
was being done, Harold stood before the class and 
asked the pupils to write the word on paper as he 
spelled it aloud. After they had written it, he di- 
rected them to examine the word on the blackboard 
and then close their eyes and tracę the word in the 
air, spelling it aloud as they traeed. After this was 
done, he asked the class to examine the work on the 
blackboard and called upon Jennie to make the ne- 
cessary corrections. 

The foUowing are the sentences written upon the 
blackboard by the row sent by Harold: 

OsMAR : If I do not meet my friend, I will disap- 
point him. 

Olof : You will disappoint me if you do not 
come. 

Clement : I was disappointe(7 because you were 
not there. 

Helen: If I do not meet you, it will disappoint 
me. 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 77 

Jennie : Are there any morę corrections to be 
madę, John? 

John: The writing is not elear in Olofs sen- 
tence. 

Ethel: Clement, the word is disappoint and not 
disappointed. Go to the board and write a sentence 
containing the word disappoint. Clement went to 
the board bnt could not think of a sentence. Alma 
rosę and explained — disappointed means if some- 
thing does not happen you will be disappointed. 
Your mother will disappoint you if she says that you 
cannot go, but your mother disappointed you when 
she said that you could not go. With the help of the 
class Clement wrote — You will disappoint me if you 
are not there at the right time. 

After all corrections had been madę, the teacher 
wrote the next word on the blackboard, first pro- 
nouncing it, then spelling it aloud to the class as she 
wrote it, and then pronouncing it again. The word 
was uniform. 

Teacher : Michael, give a sentence using the word 
uniform. 

Michael : The South?//? soldier wore a grey uni- 
form. 

LiLLiAN: Michael, you said "Southw/i" you 
should have said ''Southf /•/?." 

(Michael then repeated the sentence and pro- 
nounced the word correctly.) 

Michael: Joseph, how many syllables in the 
word uniform. 

Joseph: There are three syllables in the word 
uniform. Helen, what is the first syllable? 



78 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Helen: The first syllable is U- (Teacher then 
marked the syllable on the board.) Marguerite, 
włiat is the second syllable? 

Marguerite: The second syllable is N-I. 
(Teacher marked the second syllable on the board.) 
Arthnr, what is the third syllable in the word 
uniform ? 

Arthur: The third syllable is F-O-R-M. On 
what syllable is the accent, Ethel ? 

Ethel: The accent is on the first syllable. 
(Teacher marked the accent on the board.) Ethel 
then called upon the first row to go to the black- 
board and write sentences containing the word uni- 
form. The pupils at their seats wrote the word on 
paper, then carefuUy examined the word on the 
blackboard. Ethel then called upon the pupils at 
their seats to close their eyes and tracę the word in 
the air, spelling it aloud as they traced it. She then 
called upon the class to examine the work on the 
board and appointed Ernest to make the necessary 
corrections. 

The following sentences were written upon the 
board: 

Frances : The soldier wore a gray uniform. 

DoMENiCK : The fireman wore a uniform. 

Louis : The police//?fH wear-9 a blue uniform. 

Richard : The man wore a hlew uniform. 

Andrew: The nurse wore a white uniform. 

Ernest corrected the sentences. When he came to 
Richard 's sentence he said, ''Whoever wrote this, 
come and correct your sentence. You don't spell 
this kind of blue like when you blow away some- 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 79 

thing, but the color blue." (Richard spelled B-L-U-E 
and corrected his sentence.) 

Walter rosę and said, ''Louis, policeme?i means 
morę than one man. Only one man wears a uniform. 
If you say policenien, you have to say tvore instead 
of wears. (Louis corrected his sentence.) 

The teacher then wrote the next word on the 
blackboard, pronouncing it first, then spelling aloud 
C-E-L-L-A-R and then pronouncing it again. 

Teacher : Maggie, give a sentence using the word 
cdi ar. 

Maggie : The cellar was very musty. Harold, 
how many syllables in the word cellar "i 

Harold : There are two syllables in the word 
cellar. Sarah, what is the first syllable? 

Sarah: The first syllable is C-E-L. (The teacher 
drew a linę through the syllable on the blackboard.) 
Lillian, what is the second syllable? 

LiLLiAN: The second syllable is L-A-R. Mary, 
where is the accent of the word cellar 1 

Mary: The accent is on the first syllable, (Teach- 
er marked the accent on the blackboard.) 

Lillian then asked the third row to pass to the 
blackboard. The pupils at their seats spelled and 
wrote the word on paper. They then examined the 
word on the blackboard. Lillian directed them to 
close their eyes and tracę the word cellar in the air, 
spelling it aloud as they traced. 

The follow^ing are the sentences placed upon the 
blackboard. Barney was called upon to make the 
necessary corrections. 

Jennie : In the cellar is a bag of apples. 



80 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Frances : The cellar was damp. 

Helen : I went in the cellar for coal. 

Mary : It was very dark in the cellar. 

Barney saw no errors in the sentences, but called 
upon the class to ask if they found any errors which 
he might have overlooked. The class found no er- 
rors. 

The teacher then pronounced the word elephant 
and wrote it on the blackboard, spelling it aloud as 
she wrote. She then called upon Lynwood to give 
a sentence using the word elephant. 

Lynwood : An elephant is a very large animal. 
Marie, how many syllables are there in the word ele- 
phanłl 

Marie : There are three syllables in the word ele- 
phant. Tony, what is the first syllable ? 

Tony: The first syllable in the word elephant is 
E-L. (Teacher marked syllable on the board.) 
Louis, what is the second syllable? 

Louis: The second syllable in the word elephant 
is E. Arthur, what is the third syllable ? 

Arthur: The third syllable is P-H-A-N-T. (Sa- 
rah rosę and was recognized by Arthur.) 

Arthur : What have you to say to me, Sarah ? 

Sarah : Arthur, there is a hard part in the word 
elephant. It is ph, because it sounds like f. (The 
teacher then blocked in ph with yellow crayon.) 

Arthur : Albert, where is the accent in the word 
elephant 1 

Albert: The accent is on the first syllable. 
(Teacher marked the accent on the blackboard.) 

Albert then sent the fourth row to the board to 



ACTUAL LESSOM S AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 81 

write the word elephant in sentences. The class 
spelled and wrote the word at their seats, also vis- 
ualizing it after having written it on paper. 

The following sentences were written on the 
board: 

Joseph: The elephant is a very large animal. 

Morris : The elephant was a very large creature. 

Albert: I saw a elephant in the circus. 

Jennie: The girl was afraid of the elephant. 

Mary: The elephant has two great tusks. 

Sarah: The elephant picked up a boy with his 
tnik. 

Ethel corrected the word truk to trunk in Sarah 's 
sentence. 

Louis corrected a elephant in Albert 's sentence to 
an elephant, giving as his reason that ari must be 
nsed before a vowel. 

The teacher then placed the next word faucet upon 
the blackboard, first pronoimcing it, then spelling it 
and again pronouncing it, and then calling upon 
Hazel for a sentence containing the word faucet. 

Hazel: i forgot to turn off the faucet. (Ethel 
rosę and said that there was a hard part in the word 
faucet. It was A-U.) (The teacher then blocked in 
a u with yellow crayon.) 

Hazel: Thomas, how many syllables in faucet 1 

Thomas: There are two syllables in the word 
faucet. What is the first syllable, Domenick? 

Domenick: The first syllable in the word faucet 
is F-A-U. (Teacher marked the first syllable.) Os- 
mar, what is the second syllable? 



83 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

OsMAR: The second syllable in the word faucet 
is C-E-T. A¥here is the accent, Alma ? 

Alma: The accent of the word faucet comes on 
the first syllable. (Teacher marked the accent on 
the blackboard.) 

Alma then called npon the fonrth row to go to the 
board and write sentences containing the word fau- 
cet. The remainder of the class at their seats spelled 
the word and wrote and visualized it. 

The following are the sentences written on the 
board : 

Marguerite: The girl said to her mother, ''You 
left the fancet tnrned off. '' 

James : The lady forgot to tnrn off the fancet. 

Mary : I forgot to turn the fancet off . 

William : The faucet w^as tnrned on, 

Walter : The lady broke the fancet. 

There were no corrections to be madę. Alma di- 
rected Michael to stand with his back to the black- 
board containing the words in the lesson and asked 
him to spell cellar. When he spelled the word, he 
asked the pnpil sitting in front of him to spell an- 
other word, and so they continned ąnickly going 
up and down each row nntil all the words in the les- 
son were spelled and each pnpil was called npon. 
The w^ords were prononnced by the pnpils, both be- 
fore and after spelling them. 



.fi 




83 



SPELLING LESSON— SECOND AND 
THIRD GRADE 

The teacher wrote the word łchom on the front 
board, and then prononnced it. 

Teacher: Eleanor may continue the lesson. 
Eleanor : Whom has one syllable. Edna, spell it. 
Edna: Whom, W-H-O-M, whom. Fred, spell it. 
Fred: Whom, W-H-O-M, whom. Herbert, spell 
ivhom. 

Herbert : Whom, W-H-O-M, whom. Helen, give 

a sentence using the word whom. 

Helen: Whom are you going to the show with? 

William: Helen, you said, "Whom are you go- 

ing to the show with?" I think it would be better 

to say, "With whom are you going to the show?" 

Helen: (Repeats sentence as corrected.) Ethel, 
spell whom. 

Ethel : Whom, W-H-O-M, whom. Anna, give a 
sentence. (This was continued until the next word 
was taken up by the teacher.) The following are a 
few of the sentences given : 

To whom were you speaking? 
Whom are you going with? 
Whom did you see on your way down town ? 
With whom did you go and what did you 
see? 

84 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 85 



The teacher then wrote the next word on the board 
and pronounced it. Florence was called upon to 

continue. 

Florence: Tiew has one syllable. Spell it, Mar- 

garet. 

Makgaret: View, V-I-E-W, view. Give a sen- 
tence containing the word view, David. 

Dayid : Robinson went on one part of the island 
where he could get a better view. Edith, spell view. 
Edith: View, V-I-E-W, view. Fred, spell inew. 
(The children continued to cali upon one another in 
this way, asking to have the word spelled and given 
in sentences.) Some of the sentences given were as 
f oUows : 

The lady got a good view of the soldiers. 
Robinson went where he could get a better 
view at the savages. 
(Ruth rosę at this point and corrected the sen- 
tence by saying, "Robinson went where he could get 
a better view of the savages.") 

The teacher then wrote the next word upon the 
blackboard and called upon David to begin the word. 
Dayid: Trult/ has two syllables. (Teacher marked 
the syllables on the board.) The accent is on the 
first syllable. (Teacher marked the accent.) Flor- 
ence, spell the word truły. 

Florence : Truły, T-R-U-L-Y, truły. Anna, spell 
the first syllable. 

Anna : T-R-U. Carl, spell the second syllable. 
Carl : L-Y. Fred, spell the whole word. 
Fred: Truły, T-R-U-L-Y, truły. Joseph, give a 
sentence. 



86 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Joseph : Honest and truły clid 3^011 fali off the 
stone wali? Cynthia, spell truły. 

Cynthia spelled the word and called for a sen- 
tence. This was continiied until the next word was 
taken up. Some of the sentences given are as fol- 
lows: 

The child was truły enough not to tell. 

(Beatrice rosę and corrected this sentence by say- 
ing that it woiild have been better to say the child 
was tnw enough not to tell.) 

I received a letter, and on the bottom it said 
''Yours truły." 

The man spoke very truły. 
If the captain spoke truły, the ship was 
wrecked three miles to the northeast. 

Teacher: Eleanor may spell the three new 
words just learned. 

Eleanor: (Quietły rosę and turned her back to 
the blacl^board. She first pronounced the word she 
was to spell and then spelled it, then pronounced it 
again, continuing in this way until she had spelled 
the three words just learned. She then called upon 
another pupil to spell the three words, and this was 
continued until several pupils were called upon.) 

The teacher then placed several review words on 
the front board. The pupils called upon one anoth- 
er to spell these words. In case the words were 
morę difficult, several pupils would spell the same 
word. 

Teacher : Joseph, what letter is it we cannot 
hear in whołel 

Joseph: You can't hear the e because it makes 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 87 

the o say oh — it makes a long o. Another letter you 
cannot hear is w. 

When all the review words were spelled by the 
members of the class, the teacher sent several of the 
backward pupils to the blackboard. She then dic- 
tated a word. The first pupil wrote it on the board, 
spelling it aloud as he wrote. This pupil then went 
to the back of the rooni and wrote his word in a sen- 
tence on the blackboard. The second pupil then 
wrote the word given him by the teacher, on the 
blackboard, spelling it aloud as he wrote, and keep- 
ing his word directly under the preceding word in 
a straight column. He also wrote a sentence con- 
taining his word on the back blackboard, etc. 

Some of the review words were: Chewing, wolf, 
hrother, worry, wJiole, truth, told, soJdier, tough, guide, 
chief. 

Some of the sentences written on the blackboard 
were: 

He was chewing. 

My brother went away. 

I had a whole apple. 

The boy never told the truth. 

My Aunt said to my mother do not worry. 

A pupil was appointed by the teacher to correct 
the sentences written upon the blackboard. The pu- 
pil marked all the sentences as correct with the ex- 
ception of the last one which was marked as f ollows : 

X XX 

My Aunt said to my mother do not worry. 

X 

The pupil who had written this sentence was called 



88 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

upon to make the necessary corrections. She went 

to the board and corrected her sentence as foUows : 

My aunt said to my mother, ''Do not 

worry. ' ' 

The teacher then passed paper to the children upon 

which they first wrote their fuli names, then the 

three new words learned, and three sentences which 

the teacher dictated, containing the review words. 



READING LESSON— FIRST GRADE 

In classes composed of foreign children the pro- 
gress in the correct use of English is really wonder- 
ful. The following was taken from a reading lesson 
given by first grade pupils. 

Books were opened at a picture at the top of the 
page, of a boy with his pony. Several children rosę. 
At a word from the teacher, the lesson began. 

RuTH : In the sumnier I go to see my uncle and 
he lets me ride a little black pony. Have you some- 
thing to tell us about ponieś, Frank? 

Frank: Yes, Ruth, I like to go to the beach in 
the summer time to ride the little ponieś on the mer- 
ry-go-round. 

(Other children wished to tell about ponieś, and 
they were all interested in the picture.) 

Frank: (turning to Stella) I think we should 
like to hear the story in the book. Stella, will you 
tell us about Dan and his pony? 

Stella: Yes, Frank. (Ilere Stella reads very 
naturally and with much expression, for Dan and his 
pony were very real to her. She had something to 
tell her playmates about her new friend in the book.) 

Florence : I think you read that very nicely, 
Stella, because I could hear every word you said. 

The remainder of the story was a dialogue be- 

89 



90 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

tween Dan and a friend, so John rosę and said tha 
he thought it wonld be nice to play the gamę. Thi 
class agreed. He asked one pupil to be Dan and an 
other to talk to him. The children then had thei: 
little dialogue which was arranged by themselves 
Of course, they had similar lessons with the teaeher' 
suggestions. 

Another story which one little boy called th^ 
School Gamę was asked to be played. The class se 
lected a teaeher, who in turn chose her pupils. Sh 
called them to her and in the words of the bool 
asked ąnestions, and the pupils replied. Searcely ; 
mistake was madę, and not one remained undiscov 
ered by the children. It was play to them and the; 
were giving their best attention. 

Thus as the class progresses under this method 
many other things are taught in connection wit] 
even a reading lesson. A feAv of these are, goo( 
English, politeness, originality, respect for the right 
of others, helpfulness, and how to take and give crit 
icism. Soon the teaeher diseorers that it Is icell worti 
ichile and encourages the children In iising many orig 
iual expressions in conrersation with one another. 



READING LESSON— GRADE IV. 

Teacher: Lulu, will you please tell us all that 
you ean remember about Eobin Hood and Little 
John. 

Lulu: Robert, Earl of Huntington, was a very 
rieh man. He lived in a beautiful castle. One day 
he decided to invite his guests to dine with him. 
Before they began to eat, a messenger sent by the 
king came to him and said, "Robert, Earl of Hunt- 
ington, the king wants you at his court to be killed. 
If you do not go to be killed, you shall be an out- 
law and the king will gTve a reward to whoever finds 
you, dead or alive." 

Robert, Earl of Huntington, decided to be an out- 
law for he did not think it fair to be killed for some- 
thing that he did not do. When he left he had about 
one hundred foUowers. They all wanted to go with 
him for he was so very kind and true to the poor. 
They loved him dearly. After spending a few days 
in the greenwood, they decided to practice archery 
for several hours eaeh day. 

(Lillian, will you please start to read.) 

LiLLiAN: (Opened her book, ''Robin Hood and 
his Merry Men," to page 29 and read with much 
expression. When she finished several pupils rosę 
ąuietly and stood until recognized.) What is your 
ąuestion, Sarah? 

91 



92 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

Sarah : What did Robin say about the shooting, 
Lillian? 

LiLLiAN : ''Good shooting, indeed!" said Robin. 
''Each of my men is worth fonr; and yet I need 
morę." 

Ethel : Lillian, what did Friar Tuck say ? 

LiLLiAN: "What is your pleasure, good Robin?" 
asked Friar Tuck. "I am surę you have a plan." 
(Joseph was then called upon to continue the read- 
ing in as much as no further ąuestions were asked.) 

Joseph: (Continued to read where Lillian left 
off, but did not pronounce clearly words beginning 
with the /// sound, although his expression was very 
good.) 

Helen : Joseph, pronounce thing, thought, thank. 
.Joseph tried to pronounce the words clearly, but 
Helen, not pleased with his pronunciation, passed to 
the blackboard upon which hung a chart containing 
a list of words difficult for the foreign children to 
pronounce — particularly words containing the th 
sound.) Joseph, place your tongue between your 
teeth and say T-H-ink. (She then pointed to several 
words on the chart and Joseph pronounced them for 
her.) 

Charles: Joseph, what does amazement mean? 

Joseph : Surprise. 

Samuel : Joseph, you left out the word first. 
You should have read, ''As he took the first steps 
forward, he heard a clatter, " etc. 

MiCHAEL: You said t^mazement, Joseph, say 
flmazement. (Joseph repeated the word and then 
called upon Rosę to read.) 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 93 

Harold : Rosę, what does rudely mean ? 

RosE : Rudelu means unmannerly. 

Lynwood : Rosę, what did the stranger carry ? 

RosE : The stranger carried a heavy oaken stick. 

Mary: What did the stranger wear, Rosę? 

RosE : He was clothed in brown leather doublet 
and breeehes, and thick woolen stockings, and he 
carried a heavy oaken stick. 

Joseph : Rosę, what does ewhaiist mean ? 

RosE : When you are almost all tired out. Mary, 
will you please go on with the reading? 

(Mary continued and read well, pronouncing her 
words clearly, but with little expression.) 

LiLLiAN: Mary, you did not read this sentence 
with much expression : ''That was a trick you 
played, sir, ' ' Robin said ; " it was not fair fighting. ' ' 
Robin was angry when he said that. Mary, and you 
should have read it as though he were. 

Barney: What does inimediatclt/ mean, Mary? 

Mary : Immediately means ąuickly or at onee. 

Joseph : Mary, I don 't think you read your part 
with much expression. Lulu, will you please read 
Mary's part again. (Lulu re-read the page with 
much expression, pronouncing the words clearly and 
distinctly. She then called upon Sarah to continue.) 

(Sarah read very well with the exception of one 
or two parts.) 

Ethel: You read a little too fast on page 34, 
Sarah. Will you please begin at the top of the page 
and read it again? 



GEOGRAPHY— GRADE IV. 
Information Lesson 

Outline : 

I Peaks. 
Pikes Peak. 
II Yolcanoes 

Yolcanoes of the West 

III Trees 

Trees of the West 

IV Waterfalls 

Teacher : Lillian, will you please tell us what 
you have learned about peaks and all that you know 
about Pikes Peak? 

Lillian: a peak is a higJier part of a moimtain. 
Some peaks are bare and roeky and some are eovered 
with snów. About ninety years ago a man named 
Major Pikę tried to climb the mountain. It was so 
high that he couldn't climb to the top. He got dis- 
eouraged and eame down. He toki the people that 
no one could climb or ever get to the top except a 
flying bird. Since then railroads have been invent- 
ed and they have a railroad that goes around the 
mountain until it gets to the top. When one stands 
on the top of this mountain and looks down, the vił- 

94 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 95 

lagę looks like a tiny speck. At the foot of the 
mountain there are strawberries ; at the middle there 
are fir trees; at the top snów and ice. This shows 
the difference in the climate. The peak is three miles 
above sea level. When you are on top of the moun- 
tain sometimes a cloud comes and envelopes you. 

Joseph: Lillian, you said Major Pikę tried to 
climb this mountain. We are talking about the 
peak. 

Mary : Joseph,, say m.o\\ntain not moun^m. (Jo- 
seph repeats word.) 

Alma: Lillian, you said that the railroads go 
around the mountain until they get to the top. It 
would be much better to say that the railroads go 
around and around until they reach the top. 

Louis : Lillian, you said a peak is the higher part 
of a mountain. I think it is the highest part of a 
mountain. 

Barnby: Where is Pikes Peak, in the eastern or 
western part of the United States? 

Lillian : Pikes Peak is in the Western Highlands 
in the western part of the United States. 

Joseph: I think a better way to locate Pikes 
Peak is to say that it is in the central part of Colo- 
rado. 

Lillian : Are there any further corrections to my 
reeitation? (No further corrections or contributions 
were given.) Rosę, will you go on with the next 
topie ? 

RosE: Yolcanoes are like a peak which throws 
forth smoke, steam and melted rock. The melted 
rock is called lava, and runs out of the top of the 



96 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

peak. The part it runs out of is called the crater 
or cup. Now people are digging out many beautiful 
things which have been covered with this lava. They 
are finding precious stones and many beautiful books 
that are valuable, and g-old beads. Many ruined 
cities are now being built up. When this lava runs 
down the mountain side, the farmers gather this up 
and put it in wagons and take it to their farms. 
Some of the farms are eovered with lava. These 
are the best in the United States. 

If you should be sitting at the foot of a mountain 
under a volcano and reading or sewing, and the vol- 
cano should erupt, you would be covered with this 
lr.va and get killed. When they dug you up they 
would find you just the way you sat there reading 
or sewing. 

Jennie: Rosę, would you have to be under the 
Yolcano to be killed? 

RosE: No, Jennie, because the lava falls ąuite a 
distance. 

Ethel : Why are the farms that are covered with 
lava good? 

RosE: Because the lava is rich and makes good 
soil. 

LiLLiAN: Do they mix the lava with dirt or do 
they put the plain lava on the ground ? 

RosE: Yes, they mix it with soil for the lava 
itself is too rich. Louis, do you wish to ask me a 
ąuestion ? 

Louis: The volcano does not send forth fire, but 
the Iava shines against the clouds and looks like fire. 

Jennie : Ali lava doesn 't melt. Some of it stays 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 97 

whole like stone. I kiiow this is true because my 
father once got a piece of lava and he kept it, and 
said that a smali piece weighs about sixteen pounds. 

MiCHAEL : Was the lava soft or hard, Jennie ? 

Jennie: It was very hard — just like a rock. 

RosE : Has anyone anything further to add to my 
recitation? (Nothing added.) Joseph, will you 
please take the next topie? 

Joseph : Some trees in California are very won- 
derful. When Columbus discovered America, some 
trees were eight hundred yeai-s old. Now some are 
twelve hundred years old. The Government of 
Washington bought these trees and they are not to 
be cut down. They are the wonders of the world. 

Lulu: Joseph, pronounce ^/lese. (Lulu goes to 
the board and points out several words on a chart 
containing a list of words difficult for the foreign 
children to pronounce. Many of these words con- 
tain the tli sound such as tliink, thank, then, łJiick, 
thought, etc. Joseph pronounces the several words 
pointed out.) 

Joseph: Have you anything to add to my reci- 
tation, Barney? 

Barney: Some of the trees are three hundred 
feet tali— twice as high as the tallest church steeple. 
Thirty children taking hołd of hands can reach 
around this tree. 

Walter : These trees are called evergreen trees. 
We get rosin and turpentine from these trees. About 
fifteen horsemen riding abreast may go through an 
arch madę in the trunk of one of these trees. The 
bark is about one yard thick. 



98 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

John : Although there are a lot of trees in Cali- 
fornia, the people do not make their houses of wood. 
Most of them are madę of cement because cement is 
cool. 

Joseph : Alma, will you please take the next 
topie? 

Alma: Tłiank you, Joseph. Some people in the 
United States think that the water of Niagara Falls 
is very wonderfnl, but Niagara Falls is not as won- 
I derful as the Bridal Veil Falls. The reason why 

'• they think they are so beautiful is because they fali 

over rocks. But with the Bridal Veil Falls when the 
wind blows it makes a spray which looks like a veiL 
Niagara Falls are about one hundred and sixty feet 
and the Bridal Veil Falls are about four times as 
high. 

Joseph : Alma, you did not tell us what falls are. 
Falls are caused by water falling over rocks. 

Alma : Are there any important things to add ? 
(No further contributions.) Carl, will you please 
give us a summary of the four topics? 

Carl : A peak is the highest point of a moun- 
tain. Some peaks are bare and rocky; others are 
• covered with snów and ice. About ninety years 
ago, there lived a man named Major Pikę. One day 
as he was walking he saw a great peak, He said to 
himself, ''I will try and climb this peak." He got 
half way up and it was so cold that he came down 
and said that nobody could ever get to the top except 
a bird that can fly. Now there are railroad trains 
invented. These trains don't go straight up the 
peak because it is so steep. If they went straight 



ACTUAL LESSONS AS ILLUSTRATIONS. 99 

up they would come down backward. The trains 
go aroiind and around until they reach the top. In 
the far east one can see this peak very plainly. 
There are other peaks around, but not so tali. 

A yolcano is something which sends forth steam, 
smoke, and melted rock. The melted rock is called 
lava. Sometimes when the lava runs down the side 
of the yolcano it stays there for about a week, 
when the farmers take wagons and cart the lava to 
put in their fields. They niix it with their dirt be- 
cause it is rich, and vegetables won't grow if they 
have soil madę of lava itself . There are a lot of vol- 
canoes in the Western Highlands, but they are not 
all active. There is one active yolcano in California. 

The trees in California are twice as high as the 
tallest church steeple. When Columbus discoyered 
America some trees were about eight hundred years 
old and now some are about twelye hundred years 
old. The goyernment at Washington bought these 
trees and gaye orders that nobody should chop them 
down because they are the wonders of the world. 
They are so large that there is an archway cut 
through the trunk of one of the trees through which 
fifteen horsemen can ride abreast. The bark is one 
yard thick. 

Waterfalls are caused by water falling oyer rocks. 
People think Niagara Falls yery wonderful. They 
fali about one hundred and sixty feet. The Bridal 
Veil Falls are" morę wonderful than Niagara Falls 



100 THE SOCIALIZED RECITATION. 

because włien the wind blows the water, it makes a 
spray which looks like a veil and they cali it Bridal 
Veil Falls. These falls are four times as hi^h as 
Niagara Falls and are in the Western Highlands in 
California. 



